Protectors of the Rest
by I'msorrymylove
Summary: Galaxy has always been someone who wants to protect others, yet she can't help but feel like something is off about Ego, a man claiming to be her and Peter's father. As she delves into the mysterious surrounding Ego, she is torn between saving her brother's dream, saving the rest of the universe, or saving herself and her beloved Ronan. Second in the Orbs Collection. Ronan/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome to Protectors of the Rest. My name is I'msorrymylove, and I have been writing fanfiction on this site for over three years. During this time, I have written stories for Doctor Who, Gravity Falls, and Deadpool; if you like this fanfiction, then feel free to check out those stories. If you already have, then welcome back! If you're new, then welcome! I am a student, so I pre-write all or the majority of my books before I publish them. This allows me to be consistent with my weekly updates. This book, for example, will be posted every Friday. **

**As you saw in the summary, this is the second book of my Orbs collection. The first book, Rulers of the Galaxy, is really recommended to be read before this book. Everything will make a lot more sense if you do, such as how this is a Ronan/OC book. **

**Assuming you have read the first book, I hope this is an even better sequel. I have improved a lot as a writer since then, and I hope that shows during this book. Like in that one, I will mostly show the events that are going on around Galaxy or around Ronan, however, most of the book will focus on the events around Galaxy. ****Galaxy, the OC, is pictured to look a lot like Klaire De Lys, but with hair that is a bit lighter in color and less curly. **

**At the end of every chapter, I will have an author's note that gives some of my opinions on the chapter and the events in it. I will also respond to reviews there. I hope y'all enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Marvel. Chances are, if you recognize something, it is not mine.**

* * *

It had once been a rare occurrence for Galaxy to go on a mission for Ronan. Nebula and Gamora had always gone, and they had always expressed enjoyment about their missions and the relative freedom they had when they were able to go through the galaxy. Ever since Gamora had left – though left might have been too kind of a word considering the less than optimal way it had occurred – it had become common for Galaxy to tag along with Nebula and act as an extra eyes and ears.

Nebula was harder to get along with than Gamora. The awkward stiffness between Galaxy and Nebula had never existed when Galaxy had gone somewhere with Gamora, but Galaxy was determined to make her time with Nebula _good. _

The two were on a random planet that served as a gas station. Galaxy had always called these planets littered throughout space as "ghost planets;" it was a reference no one else, except maybe her brother, Peter, would get. Before their mother had died, she would take them on road trips around the United State. It had been their goal to get to every single one of them, but that goal was forgotten when the diagnosis of a brain tumor had been slammed down.

Besides have a large gas station, the planet had _nothing _to do except to go to a bar. Nebula had protested when Galaxy had brought up the idea of going there for a drink or two. She cited that it was too dangerous, too many unknowns, and probably absolutely disgusting. Galaxy was somewhat surprised that Nebula hadn't brought up their clothes as well. Galaxy was wearing a simple pair of black jeans and a dark green shirt; Ronan had always said that the color went well with her dark eyes and brown hair, and the distance had made her nostalgic for his smile. In her current outfit, she could easily imagine the way he would smile at her. He'd also smile at Nebula's clothes, but it would have that heaviest to them. Her skin-tight bodysuit, a nice purple color, when well with her robotic blue skin, a skin that always reminded Ronan of the monster he had once allied with.

Their outfits were sure to make them stand out, and even though Galaxy knew that, she couldn't help but continue to twist Nebula's arm until the other woman threw her hands into the air and shouted, "Fine! But if we are kidnapped by enemies of Ronan or allies of Thanos you are _not _blaming me."

"Of course," Galaxy promised. As they walked towards the bar she added, "It's not like that's going to happen anyways."

She was wrong. One minute, Galaxy had gotten Nebula to down her first ever shot, and the next they were dragged from bars with hoods over their heads. When those hoods were ripped off of them, Nebula wasted no time in turning to Galaxy and saying, "I told you this would happen."

She proceeded to do that every single day they were held hostage, sometimes saying it multiple times per day when something arose that had proved her earlier concerns. Like when it was revealed that it was the Sovereign that had grabbed them. As soon as they mentioned sending a message to Ronan along with a pointed note about Thanos, Nebula had turned to Galaxy and had said, "I told you this would happen."

* * *

When they had first been captured, Galaxy was sure that Ronan would come for them soon, "He'll be here in a few days," she said confidently while Nebula rolled her eyes, "He wouldn't leave us."

When more than a few days had passed, though it was hard to tell the true passage of time, Galaxy had still been optimistic, "I _know _he's coming soon."

But when the unspecified amount of time of 'soon' stretched on and on, Galaxy's optimism and confidence had started to wane away bit by bit. What was taking Ronan so long? Had he been hurt trying to get to them? Had he staged some sort of break in, only to get captured himself? With the only way to mark time by the progression of dirt that encased her clothes and hair and skin, she only knew that it had been a _long _time. It made her scared, and when Galaxy was scared, she tried not think.

It nearly came as a relief when two Sovereign guards pulled them to their feet, threw hoods over their heads, and dragged them through a series of complex turns that kept Galaxy thoroughly confused abut their location. They were brought into a room and shoved roughly to the floor while their bags were ripped off. Flinching back at the sudden light, it took a moment before Galaxy was able to look up and see...

"Family reunion. Yay," Peter gave his twin sister Galaxy a wane smile that she dazedly returned.

"I understand you know these women," the haughty voice was female. Galaxy slowly turned to see a Sovereign woman decked in much finer clothes sitting on a throne and staring down at the group Peter led, "You and she are related," she said with a nod to Galaxy and Peter, "And you and _she _are related," she said with another nod to Nebula and Gamora.

Peter straightened under the woman's gaze, "Yes. They're what our…_boss _wants as payment for protecting your batteries," he inclined his head formally, "We thank you, High Priestess Ayesha."

The Ayesha didn't smile at the manner, merely sniffing as if this was something she completely expected and was unimpressed with. It seemed that that was enough, though, and Galaxy was helped to her feet by Peter while Gamora did the same for Nebula. Whispering that they would get the shackles off soon, they started to walk away from Sovereign when Ayesha called, "What is your heritage, Mr. Quill?"

Peter turned, which made Galaxy turn as well, but all he did was shrug, "My mother is from Earth."

"Our," Galaxy corrected, her voice rough.

Ayesha sneered for a moment, but then decided that Galaxy was not worth getting too angry over and that it would be in her best interest to pretend that she had never spoken and didn't exist. Her question about Quill's father, just like the one starting off the conversation, was aimed pointedly at _only _Peter. But his less than knowledgeable answer did not please her, and her sneer grew pronounced as she eyed the twins in front of her, "I see it within the _both _of you. Unorthodox genealogies. Hybrids that seem particularly…reckless."

Galaxy could see Peter's jaw straining to snap some sort of insult right back at Ayesha at the insult. But even Galaxy knew that the Sovereign would never let any person who had been disrespectful to them live. With pained effort, Peter inclined his head once more and he made to leave with Galaxy when a voice, deadpan but clearly meant to not only be heard but taken as insult, said, "You know, they told me you people were conceited douchebags, but that isn't true at all."

Every single creature, Sovereign or not, went still; every single creature, that is, except for Rocket the Raccoon who was trying to wink at Peter as if this was all some kind of very fun joke. When he didn't get the response he wanted, he shook his head, "Oh, shit. I'm using my wrong eye again, aren't I? I'm sorry."

Galaxy had never been more grateful for Drax, a man who hated her guts, when he calmly picked up Rocket and carried him far away from the Sovereign so that they couldn't hear anymore insults that slipped from him.

And somehow, in a direct example of a miracle, Galaxy, Nebula, and the self-named Guardians of the Galaxy were able to leave and get onto Peter's ship, the _Milano, _alive.

* * *

Once she had showered and changed into the familiar pair of jeans and dark blue sweater-like shirt that Gamora handed her, Galaxy got the whole story over some soup she devoured. When she had Nebula had been captured, Ronan had spent a long time trying to figure out who had them. He had found their ship still at the gas station planet, but no one was willing to tell him what had happened to the owners. Many still remembered the terror he had inflicted, so either no one wanted to tell him because they were scared of him, or because they hated his guts.

Either way, Ronan had been forced to call in back-up in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy. Quite suddenly, _everyone _had known where Galaxy and Nebula were, but that turned out to be mainly false tips. The Sovereign had been their fifth group to contact, and they had easily agreed to hand over the two women for the small price of protecting their priceless anulax batteries from a creature that had set upon it. Once that was out of the way, they had gone to Sovereign and the rest was what Galaxy had already known. At some point, Ronan had sent over herself and Nebula with the instruction that he be contacted as soon as they were given to their owners. When Galaxy asked if that had been done, Peter waved her concern aside with the promise that _everything _was taken care of.

"So, now we just gotta bring you and baldy – "

"Nebula."

" – to Roro – "

"Ronan."

" – and then we'll head out."

Galaxy nodded at the plan Peter had presented to her, "Sounds good," she said with a smile.

Getting up from the table, she gave her twin brother a long overdue hug, one that he easily returned, "You know you didn't have to save us," she pointed out once the hug was over and she had sat back down.

"Course I did. You're my sister," the comment made the twins smile at each other goofily.

Sitting down across from her, Peter's expression seemed to tighten, but he didn't say anything. The silence that filled the kitchenet they were in allowed Galaxy to be able to hear the music someone had turned on as they flew lazily through space. Lake Shore Drive was a song Galaxy recognized well, not only from the 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2' tape, but also from her memories. How many times had her mother played that song while they drove through dusty backstreets lined with forest on one side and corn on the other? Just for a moment, if Galaxy closed her eyes, she could smell the dust coming into the car and coating everything inside of it because Peter had rolled his window down.

"Mom used to play this song a lot," Peter said suddenly.

For a moment, Galaxy wanted to shake Peter from taking her out of that pleasant memory; the sound of her mother's laughter was still ringing in her ears and she wanted to hear _more _of it. But the look of Peter's face, wistful and sad, made Galaxy's urge go away in favor of just saying, "She'd always sing along to it."

"On those road trips she would drag us on, she'd always start it off with this song."

"I like those road trips. She was always so happy on them."

"I liked them too. She'd always tell us something about dad."

Galaxy eyed Peter, the spell of nostalgia falling away as she saw his brow furrow in remembered pain. They had both been affected by their lack of a dad, but they had showed it in extremely different ways. Galaxy had taken it out on anyone who tried to befriend her, especially if they had an active father who would walk them to school or pick them up after. She was jealous of them, and that caused her to lash out. Eventually, everyone knew that Ariel Quill was not to be friended with, and she had tried to convince herself that she was okay with that.

Peter, however, had never lashed out the way Galaxy had. He too had been an outside, in part because of the association to herself, but also because he was sensitive and appeared weak; he was an easy target to pick on. That had only made him want to fit in _more, _though, and a young Ariel Quill had watched as her brother tried to have _one _friend that wasn't her, and to him, that meant changing things about himself. He tried different clothes, different hair styles, and even different accents to no avail. The worst change he had tried was a claim that they actually _did _have a father that looked suspiciously like David Hasselhoff and was also off filming somewhere exotic. He had never tried to deny their relationship, and as a young child she had felt confident he never would. As much as he wanted to fit in, he would never do that to _her. _

As an adult, however, it bothered her how much Peter had linked his identity to their parents. It made Galaxy wonder if he would push her to the side if it meant he would gain his father.

It was why when Peter brought up the subject of a father, it made her uneasy. She still attempted to comfort him; she reached a hand across the table and placed it on his while bringing up her very reasonable assumption that the comment about their parents had affected him, but her heart was not in it. Peter, however, didn't notice anything amiss. He spent a better part of a few minutes ranting about the Sovereign leader and her insults. He ended with a shake of his head and a frustrated, "Aren't you upset?"

"Of course, I am," Galaxy said, "She took me prisoner and then insulted my parents."

Still clouded in his frustration, Peter didn't notice how Galaxy carefully didn't go into specific details. He was too busy getting to his feet and explaining that he _had _to work off this excess energy. With a point to the front of the ship, he told her that he was going to piolet for a bit, and if she needed him to check there.

And then he was gone.

Galaxy looked down at the remnants of the soup she had been eating and sighed. Peter's rant had been so long that her food had gone cold, and there wasn't enough left for her to justify reheating it.

As she got up from the table, bowl in hand, she heard a noise behind her. She turned around to see Nebula, wearing the clean clothes as well, standing at the entrance to the kitchen with stiff, uncertain posture. Upon seeing Galaxy looking at her, she stepped in awkwardly, "Gamora said I could eat."

Galaxy pointed to the cabinets behind her, "Food's in there."

Nodding, Nebula walked towards the cabinets and opened them. She eyed the items in them and then shook her head and made a noise of disgust. Closing the cabinets firmly, she made to leave the kitchen, but stopped when Galaxy quickly said, "I'm sorry about not listening to you earlier." Slowly, Nebula turned her head in a clear sign that she was listening even though her back was turned to Galaxy. It was enough movement to give Galaxy the courage to continue on, "You were right about not going to the bar, and I should have listened to you."

Nebula inclined her head, which was probably the best reaction Galaxy was going to get, and then exited the kitchen.

Suddenly exhausted, Galaxy collapsed in the nearest chair. The Sovereign prison was not the most comfortable place to be in for weeks on end, and Galaxy had gotten little sleep during her captivity. She supposed she was lucky that she had been able to continue on for as long as she had, for now the entire ordeal was hitting her all at once. Lazily, she glanced at the doorway. Gamora had pointed to where the bedrooms were, but right now that short journey felt much to long.

She didn't know when, but at some point, her fight with sleep ended with her head going down on the table and her eyes closing.

* * *

Galaxy awoke with a start not because she wanted to, but because an annoying alarm was going off and warning lights were flashing on the ship. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but it didn't feel like nearly enough time. Still, the lights were enough to make her press against the lingering sleepiness to go to the front of the ship.

Gamora, Peter, Rocket and Baby Groot were seated in the very front of the ship, but even if Galaxy filled in one of those seats for Drax there were still enough seats for herself, Nebula, and even Ronan. It was a small detail that made her happy; while she might have been reading too much into it, she felt like it was Peter's unspoken way of telling her that he would _always _have room for her and the people she cared about.

Or it might have been that he had gotten a better deal on this ship than other smaller ones.

Whatever the reasoning might be, Galaxy took the seat that had no controls attached to it but was relatively close to her brother. She glanced at the screen he was looking at and was instantly mystified by the symbols. It all looked very bad, however, and it made Galaxy anxiously ask, "What's going on?"

"We got an armed Sovereign fleet, approaching from the rear," Peter explained, he frowned and then glanced at Galaxy, "Weren't you here when I said that?"

"No. I just got here," she tried to suppress a yawn that was coming, but she had never been good at that particular skill.

Once her yawn was over, Peter raised his eyebrow, "Were you _sleeping?"_

"Shut up."

Chuckling to himself, Peter went back to monitoring the fleet coming towards them. Despite now knowing _what _was happening, Galaxy still wanted to know _why. _Thankfully, Gamora seemed to be on the same page as her, because she asked the very question Galaxy was going to ask herself.

"Probably because Rocket stole some of their batteries," Drax's answer made Galaxy jump in her seat. She had not heard the man arrive in the front of the ship, but when she twisted in her seat, she saw that he was in one of his own. At some point, Nebula had arrived as well, and she had taken a seat at the very back.

Of course, Drax's arrival was neither the only or the primary reason why Galaxy had jumped. His claim that Rocket had stole some of the priceless batteries the Sovereign was _known _to protect lethally wasn't shocking. Though Galaxy had not been around Rocket often, she still remembered the raccoon's risk taking and general lack of thought about consequences. Still, the slightly betrayed look and quiet, "Dude," that came from Rocket was a blow to Galaxy.

"Oh, right," Drax said suddenly, "He didn't steal one of those. I don't know why they're after us. What a mystery this is."

No one was convinced, but that stopped mattering when the Sovereign started to do shoot at them. Peter rolled the _Milano _out of the way from the incoming bullets. As soon as he could tear his focus away from flying, he shouted at Rocket, "What were you thinking?!"

"Dude, it was really easy to steal," Rocket said in a tone that implied that _he _was the reasonable one in this discussion.

"That's your defense?" Gamora snapped.

"Come on," Rocket said in exasperated, drawn out tone. From her seat, Galaxy could see him roll his eyes, and she wondered how often her brother and Gamora wanted to strangle him; she certainly wanted to.

"You saw how that high priestess talked down to us! I'm teaching her a lesson!"

"Oh, well I'm sure if you just explain that to them, they'll understand."

"Exactly!" Rocket agreed with a point to Galaxy.

"That was sarcasm!"

"Oh no, you tricked me! You're supposed to use a sarcastic voice! Now I look foolish."

While Galaxy was completely unamused and commented under her breath that Rocket had not needed _any _help to look foolish, Drax apparently thought that this was the funniest thing ever. He started to laugh, hard and heavy, while pointing at Rocket.

"Shut up, Drax!" Peter yelled, making Drax fall silent, "You knew! You should have told us."

Looking taken a back, Drax looked over at Rocket, "Did you tell him that it was easy to steal?"

"Are you kidding me?"

At Rocket's snap, Drax's face fell a small bit, "What?"

"You never listen to anything!"

"None of you listen!" Gamora shouted, "Can we please just put the bickering on hold until _after _we survive the massive space battle?"

Galaxy thought that that was a reasonable request and she nodded in agreement. Her glance at Peter told her that he too agreed with the request, but it became quickly apparent that Rocket and Drax did _not _agree.

That didn't matter, however, because as Galaxy looked away from the occupants of the _Milano, _she saw more and more golden ships appearing in front of them; their presence, previously unnoticed thanks to the fighting, had been allowed to grow into a force that could easily take their ship down.

Galaxy had never been a fighter. Her lack of enthusiasm when it came to violence and other people getting harmed had been part of the reason why she had gotten Ronan to stop his anarchy towards Xandar and its people. But Galaxy was also realistic. It was clear the only way they would ever except the Sovereign was if they fought, and Galaxy had resigned herself to this outcome.

It wasn't a struggle to alert her brother that the Sovereign were amassing, and it wasn't _really _a struggle to see the ships destroyed, but the sight of others dying did make her wince and avert her eyes. It made her cringe at how enthusiastic Rocket was at the prospect of killing others, but the idea of Drax's comment if she said something against it made her not say anything.

Perhaps just wanting to get Rocket to shut up, or maybe she remembered Galaxy's distaste of violence, from her seat Gamora snapped, "You're not killing anyone. Those ships are all remotely piloted."

That didn't stop Rocket from blowing up all the ships, but he did stop yelling as he did so. In her own seat, Galaxy relaxed ever-so-slightly. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything, but Galaxy knew it would only be deluding herself if she assumed that Gamora and Nebula hadn't noticed. It was almost annoying how observant they were; Galaxy could stub her toe or get a paper cut and they would notice.

Galaxy was also observant, though not nearly as much as Gamora or Nebula, but no one could reach their skills. As a normal, untrained human, Galaxy noticed that the Sovereign started to target them destructively as the space battle continued. It didn't take a genius to guess that they must have written off their batteries, and maybe even their own ships, in their want to get back at the Guardians for their apparent slight.

Within a minute or so of her observation, one of the Sovereign's ships got the _Milano's _wing, and emergency systems started to flash. Through gritted teeth, Peter asked, "What's the closest habitable planet?"

"It's called Berhert," Gamora answered after several tense seconds of Peter struggling to keep the _Milano _steady with one wing while Gamora searched on the navigation system.

"How many jumps?"

"Only one, but the access point is 47 clicks away and it's through that Quantum Asteroid Field over there."

Despite not seeing Gamora's nod, Peter quickly focused in on the asteroid field that was to his side. This field was not like the one that Galaxy and Peter had learned about in school; the asteroid field in Earth's galaxy was filled with decidedly normal objects that collided with one another, slowly breaking down throughout the eons. The asteroids in the field in front of them swirled in random patterns, and while some of them collided with each other, it was not due to random movement but because they would pop in and out of existence.

Most pilots considered a regular asteroid field to be a headache that was not worth the potentially lethal risk. The idea of flying through a _quantum _asteroid field would be suicide, yet Peter still started to pilot the _Milano _to the field with the clear intention of flying through it.

"Quill, to make it through that, you'd have to be the greatest pilot in the universe," Drax said, his tone a mixture of shock and seriousness.

Galaxy could see the smirk growing on her brother's face as he responded confidently, "Lucky for us –"

It wasn't just Peter who finished that sentence. As her brother declared himself the greatest pilot in the universe, Rocket did as well. With a click, the raccoon took over the controls for the _Milano _and started to swoop and dive through the asteroid field. The disappearing and reappearing rocks barely missed their ship as they flew, but judging by the explosions behind him, the Sovereign were not as lucky.

For a moment, as Rocket flew, Peter could only gape at him in shock. He soon recovered and reclaimed the controls, prompting a fight between the two that was pronounced by clicks as Rocket stole the controls and Peter stole them right back. Gamora's protests couldn't stop them, Nebula's noise of disgust didn't stop them, and Galaxy's own plea didn't stop them.

Somehow, though, they had made their way through the asteroid field unharmed. Galaxy could easily admit that Peter was an outstanding pilot, and while it would be done grudgingly, she could also admit that Rocket was an outstanding pilot as well. They had both been able to fight each other over the controls and stop the _Milano _of getting damaged, but it was only a matter of time until their fighting led to disaster.

With a horrible sound of crushing metal and a sudden deafening noise of wind, one glance behind Galaxy told her that the worse had occurred and the _Milano _had been struck by an asteroid. The ship had taken deadly damage as well; the entire back end of the ship was gone, and everything was being sucked out into the vortex of space.

Galaxy was about to sigh in relief that everyone had had the sense to strap themselves to their seats, but it seemed that the baby-like Groot was too small to be held to his chair. He started to get sucked out, but Peter threw him over to Drax while punching in a code that threw an energy shield over the hole.

For the first time since she had taken her seat, Nebula said something. Her snap of "idiots," was one that Galaxy firmly agreed with.

"Well, that's what you get when Quill flies," Rocket said dryly. In response, Gamora threw something _hard _at the back of Rocket's head, prompting him to cry out "Ow!"

"There's _still _a Sovereign craft behind us," Gamora warned, her eyes firmly on Peter.

With their weapons down and twenty clicks left to the jump, it seemed like the currently trembling _Milano _would barely make it. Oddly enough, Drax choose this moment to get up from his chair and climb into the living area below the ship; the area that was currently mostly destroyed and was only held together with an energy shield.

"Where is he going?" Galaxy asked, but she only received confused shrugs.

His intent became clear enough when, just after Gamora had announced that there were fifteen clicks left, a beep came from the controls that announced a new shield was up. A quick glance at a rearview camera showed that Drax, with a cord wrapped around himself, had gotten into a spacesuit and had jumped out of the _Milano. _With a rifle, he shot and destroyed the lone ship behind them, but even with the threat gone, he didn't attempt to come back inside.

Figuring he would be fine, Galaxy focused back in on her surroundings. Somehow, they had made it through the asteroid field. It appeared like they were fine for a moment and they would make the next five clicks with no issue, but then the Sovereign ships reappeared, surrounding them.

"Son-of-a-! They went around the field!"

It looked like they were truly done for, and Galaxy swallowed hard as she tried to reassign herself to her certain death. She closed her eyes and whispered under her breath, "I'm sorry I won't get to say goodbye to you, Ronan."

A sudden bright light from behind her eyelids forced Galaxy's to open her eyes. Her jaw dropped as she watched each and every Sovereign craft blow up. There was no sign of the cause for these explosions; Drax's rifle couldn't had done this, and even if the _Milano's _guns were working, they couldn't have done this as well.

So what had?

When Rocket voiced her own questions, he was quickly shot down by Peter in favor of the pressing matter of reaching the jump point. The _Milano _whizzed through the air and then, with a pop, it teleported into the sky of an Earth-like planet. In this new atmosphere, the ship quickly gave up. Pieces ripped off with a brutal, metal grinding sound. Galaxy could see Peter shaking with the effort of trying to keep the _Milano _in control, but that proved to be a fruitless flight as they quickly lost altitude. The sick feeling in her stomach was only heightened when Galaxy looked out of the craft to see a green, dense forest approaching them _very _fast.

"Prepare for a really bad –"

No amount of preparation would have been enough for the crash that cut off Peter's warning shout. They hit trees, and while this slowed their crash, it also made it bumpy, rough, and more than a bit terrifying. Despite her seat belt, Galaxy felt as if she was being pulled and pushed from her seat as, like a pinball machine, the _Milano _was bounced between the trees. At some point, she had closed her eyes, and when she opened it, she couldn't help but scream as she saw the ground rushing towards them. The _Milano _hit the ground with a thud and a heavy jerk that pressed Galaxy back into her seat. They skidded across the ground, sending dirt up around them until _finally, _the ship stilled.

For several moments, there was blissful stillness. The only sound was heavy breathing as everyone calmed from the crash.

And then Peter, smirking, turned around in his chair and tauntingly said to Galaxy, "You were screaming."

"I was _not."_

"Like a _little girl."_

"At least _I _didn't crash the ship!"

After not commenting, it seemed that Nebula had had _enough. _With a growl that prompting everyone to turn and look at her, she got up from her chair and shouted, "You are all idiots!"

As she stalked off, Galaxy looked around for Gamora and frowned. When she asked where she was, Peter wordlessly pointed to the back of the ship.

"Come on," he said heavily, "Let's go see how bad this was."

Shakily, Galaxy got up from her chair. Side-by-side, she and Peter started to make their way out of the wreckage of the _Milano. _As the adrenaline rush faded, Galaxy couldn't help but start to feel more and more angry at Rocket and Peter. By the time she exited, it was clear that the next step was going to involve a lot of shouting. Luckily, one look at Gamora and Nebula told Galaxy that she would not be alone in her anger _or _shouting.

* * *

**And with that, the first chapter of Protectors of the Rest is done! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. After being away from Galaxy for so long, it was nice to be able to write her again. It's like being around an old friend. I was a bit nervous because of everything that has been going on with GoG and its future, but I decided not to let that stop me. The best way to combat something you don't like is by continuing on normally and not let it make you change your life, and I will treat this as no different. **

**Besides that, I'm pretty happy with this chapter. It's a pretty good length and I think I was able to show the relationship between Galaxy and Nebula and Galaxy and Peter really well. I'm going to be focusing a lot on the sibling relationship for obvious reasons, and so far, I'm happy with out it's coming out.**

**And now...review time! This is when I answer reviews from people. While there are no reviews from this book, I do have reviews to answer from Rulers of the Galaxy.**

**Monkeybaby: I'm glad you liked it!**

**Importchic: Thank you! I hope that you like this story as well.**

**Guest: Thank you so much!**

**CanzetYote: I'm glad you liked the chapter. I don't really know how to reply to the rest of your review. **

**If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to review! Otherwise, I'll see y'all next Friday!**


	2. Chapter 2

As Galaxy had predicated, the next step involved _lots _of yelling at Peter and Rocket. Galaxy had gone first. She had always been quick to anger, but it only took a minute or so of yelling for the majority of her anger to disappear. She had told Rocket that he was an idiot and she had seen raccoons on Earth that had more intelligence then he did, but as soon as Peter snickered at this, she turned her ire to him. She had shouted that he should have been ashamed of himself for allowing his ship to be damaged; as a leader, he should have been in control and protective instead of nearly getting them all killed because of his massive ego. After that, though, she deflated considerably. She was still angry, but she was no longer at a level of wanting to shout at anyone. With a glare at both Rocket and Peter that was much weaker than the one she had given them when she first started out, she sat down on a nearby tree-stump as Gamora started her own yelling.

Oddly enough, Nebula did not make a move to add in her own complaints. When Galaxy glanced over at her, she was surprised to see her leaning against the tree with an almost bored expression on her face. Nebula did roll her eyes at the dig Gamora made at Rocket and Peter; the dig, referencing how the two had thought with a very _specific_ part of their body rather than their brain, was a _bit _immature, but Galaxy also completely agreed with it to the point that she refused to be annoyed by it the way Nebula was.

Like Galaxy, Gamora was not one to spend a lot of time yelling. Whenever she was angry, Gamora would yell at first, but then she would soften to a voice that was much calmer, yet somehow more terrifying. It was a lethally calm tone that reminded Galaxy of the stillness right before a giant summer storm when the air just crackled with the tension as everything hid away. That was the voice Gamora used when she corrected Peter for not taking the situation seriously when he made a joking comment about how he would have piloted _perfectly _with any body part, especially the one that Gamora had just referenced.

Even though Galaxy agreed with Gamora's comment, she still winced at it. Despite the joking comments and eye rolling from Peter, Galaxy could see the familiar signs of Peter's anger growing since she had yelled at him. His jaw was clenched, his shoulders were squared, and his arms were crossed and practically pressed into his chest. Even his jokes, as common as they were when he was in a normal state, were a familiar sign to Galaxy; ever since he was young, he had always used jokes to try and relieve some of the anger he was building up, but when that failed he would start to shout until everything had simmered down. This was why Galaxy wasn't surprised when Peter sharply turned towards Rocket with a harsh glare to yell, "More like because _he _stole the Anulax batteries!"

"They're called Harbulary batteries," Drax instantly corrected, but that went ignored save for the glares he was sent.

"You know why I did it, Star-Munch?" Rocket snapped, but received no answer as Peter clenched his jaw, "Do you?"

"I'm not going to answer to 'Star-Munch,'" Peter huffed through gritted teeth.

"I did it because _I _wanted to!"

For a moment, Peter just tilted his head to look at Rocket, but then he shook his head and snapped, "Dick."

Rolling his eyes at insult, Rocket turned to the others with an expression that screamed exasperation; it was clear he could not understand _why _they were fighting about his thieving, and a small part of Galaxy could understand why. The Guardians of the Galaxy were not known for being heroes in the traditional sense. They all had criminal records and were actively adding to them through various petty crimes like _thieving. _Plus, the people he had stolen from, the Sovereign, had blatantly insulted them. Rocket had not seen an issue with stealing from the Sovereign because to him, it was the same as any other crime.

Galaxy knew if there had never been a battle, the batteries would have been something they all would have laughed about, but that alternative future didn't matter anymore. There _was _a fight and they had nearly died in, and that was all because of Rocket. His reason for stealing didn't matter anymore because the consequences of his actions had been heavy. It was clear, however, that Rocket had not made this connection, and until he did and was able to apologize, the band of people Peter felt close to would continue fighting until _something _happened.

An apology was not coming anytime soon since Rocket had started to talk about a tiny man standing on a space craft who had saved them by destroying all the Sovereign. The topic felt like a deflection from the fight, and that just made Peter and Gamora frustration grow. Soon the entire group was arguing about this impossible tiny man when abruptly, Nebula jerked away from the tree she had been leaning on and harshly warned with her eyes on the sky, "Someone followed us through the jump point."

Everyone slowly looked up to see a huge, shiny white spaceship flying overhead. No matter how vicious their fighting had been just a few seconds earlier, it was clear the Guardians were a group when they fell back against each other with their weapons drawn. Uncertain, Galaxy drew herself nearer to Peter who instantly responded by pushing her into the middle of the ring-like shape the group had automatically arranged into. Even there, she remained by her brother; it would have made more sense for her to stand closer to Nebula who was tensely standing in the part of the ring further from mysterious ship, but there was something in Galaxy that had sparked when she had seen the ship. It felt the same way when the other children would bully her on the playground and she would go to her brother for protection, so she stayed by her brother with a hand on his shoulder.

"Give me a weapon. You'll need my help," Nebula said as the ship started to lower to the ground in front of them.

The instant denial from Gamora made Galaxy frown. She had assumed Nebula's weapons had been returned to her like Galaxy's own pocket knife, a gift from Ronan, that was stowed away in the pocket of her jeans; knowing that they weren't made a knot form in her stomach as she glanced at the lack of reaction from her brother at the denial. It was becoming clear to her that neither Gamora or Peter trusted Nebula, but did that include everyone connected to Ronan as well? She had always assumed that any concern in Gamora towards Nebula, Ronan, or herself would be calmed by her brother, but now Galaxy wasn't so sure.

For a moment, she thought about pushing the issue and demanding a weapon for Nebula, but the landing of the ship with a deafening noise made Galaxy keep her mouth shut. Everything could be dealt with later because for now, the occupants in the craft needed to think that they were all armed and prepared to use those weapons. Any weakness exposed could mean the difference between life and death.

A hatch came out of the bottom of the still-closed door of the craft, creating a pathway that would allow the occupants to walk straight up to the tense group. The door slid open and a man stepped out. He was humanoid in appearance with hair that was mostly gray but peppered with dark brown. His beard and eyebrows, however, were a deep, dark gray. His face was wrinkled, but Galaxy didn't think he looked tired or old. The first thing that came to Galaxy's mind was _adventurous. _His clothes, faded from use, added to the overall appearance of someone who had lived a full life. Over his shoulder, a younger female alien appeared. She was insect-like, with two antennas with lights at the end of them growing out of her forehead and her eyes were large and dark. Her dark green and black body suit was much more modern and sleeker than her companion's clothes.

After a brief glance at the female, however, Galaxy remained focused on the man. There was something about him that seemed to draw her to him, as if he had some sort of magnetic pull. When he smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners, she could barely suppress her own smile. He walked down the pathway, half-swaggering with a confidence that exploded out of him, until he was directly in front of Peter and the half-hidden Galaxy. When she met his gaze, he took a step back and his eyes darkened, "My god," he whispered, "You look-" overcome with _some _emotion, it took him a moment to recover. With a slight shake of his head, he focused in on Peter, but Galaxy could see and feel his gaze repeatedly dropping onto her even as he spoke, "After all these years, I've found you both."

"Who the hell are you?" Peter demanded angrily, but Galaxy could hear the fear buried in the question because she knew her brother well. Oddly enough, she wasn't afraid; even with the man's strange reaction towards her, the most negative emotion Galaxy could equate to the man was feeling unsettled. Of course, she tried to at least _appear _aggressive towards him, but she knew she was coming up short.

Thankfully, the open hostility from the rest of the group more than made up from the lacking attempt on Galaxy's part. The man was not put off by them; if anything, it made him smile wider. Casually, he titled his head up with that confidence Galaxy had seen when he walked down his pathway to them, "I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious. My name's Ego, and I'm your dad Peter," he paused and then looked over at Galaxy, "and Ariel."

* * *

Night fell quickly on the planet that they were on. They had started a fire and the Guardians, Nebula, and Galaxy had sat down around it on one side. Across from them, Ego and the female, insect-like alien sat on the other side. No one in the Guardians group had wanted to split up from each other, but they all knew they needed the food that was still on their crashed ship. Rocket had been the one to go back into the wreckage and bring some out, but even with their hunger, no one on the Guardian's side made a move to eat.

The tension surrounding everything was unbearable to the point it felt choking. Galaxy was watching Ego carefully, trying not to betray the how much it bothered her every time he called her "Ariel." Few people outside of the Guardians, Ronan, and Nebula knew her actual name, and the idea that Ego was apart of that group made Galaxy very uncomfortable. She still felt those odd, warm feelings towards him, but she knew that she _had _to be cautious and go by her old name.

Ego had to notice how tense everyone was, but he acted as if it was nonexistent. He was heartily tearing at the food Rocket had give him, indulging in it as if it was the best meal he had ever had. Between his bites, he spoke about his struggles of finding his children, starting when they had been kidnapped by Yondu.

"I would have done it myself," he admitted, "but I was in the midst of an outlandish adventure at the time. Battling demonic forces to save this dimension or some such nonsense – I can't quite recall. It all bleeds together after a while," his tone had been mostly casual, but he leveled a serious look at the twins, "But instead of returning you two, Yondu kept you both. I have no clue as to why."

"He kept me because I was a skinny kid who could squeeze into places adults couldn't, making thieving easier," Peter answered automatically with more than just a hint of bitterness in his voice, "He didn't keep Ariel though."

"He sold me to Ronan's father," Galaxy explained with Ego turned to her with a surprised expression, "Peter and I grew up separately. We were only reunited a bit ago."

Ego shook his head and spat at the ground, "That son-of-a-bitch," he said darkly, "I've been trying to track the two of you down ever since. If I had known you were with Ronan, I would have found you when you were still a kid."

"I thought Yondu was your father," Drax said suddenly.

Blinking rapidly in confusion, Galaxy swung her head to look at Drax, only to see that his gaze was firmly on Peter who was just as confused as she was, "What?" Her brother spluttered out, "We've been together all this time and you thought Yondu was my actual blood relative?"

"You look exactly alike," Drax explained in a tone that implied that this similarity was _obvious. _

After Rocket quickly pointed out that Yondu was blue, Peter heatedly corrected Drax, "He wasn't my father. Yondu was the guy that abducted Ariel and me. He sold her and then he'd beat the crap out of me, so I'd learn how to fight. He kept me in terror threatening to eat me." Slowly, Galaxy placed her hand on Peter's arm. He had gotten more and more heated as he had spoken to Drax, and by the time he was done, he was breathing heavily. At her touch, he had jumped at first, but she could feel him calming with the silent reminder that those memories were in the past and that they were together.

Ego, however, did _not _calm down. He was already angry about Galaxy, and the summarization of Peter's childhood had only added fuel to the fire, "Eat you?!"

"Yes," Peter agreed.

Once again, Ego spat forcibly on the ground, "He's a _real _son-of-a-bitch."

"Why did you only find us now?" Galaxy asked. The question had burst from her in the silence that had started to fall around the campfire. It sounded a bit like an accusation to her own ears, and it made her eye Ego warily as she waited for him to react.

For a moment, Ego seemed to gnaw at the question, chewing it over deliberately and slowly. When he answered it, he looked at her as he spoke, and Galaxy watched as the anger softened from him, "Even where I reside, out past the edge of what's known, we've heard tell of the man they call Star-Lord and his sister," he said slowly.

Standing, he handed the empty dish of food to Gamora, who took it gingerly with one hand, while Ego's focus remained captivated by the twins as he spoke, "Say we head out that way now? Your associates are welcome, even that triangle-faced monkey there. I promise you, it's like no place you've ever seen. And there I can explain to you two your very special heritage and finally be the father I've always wanted to be," for a moment, Galaxy thought the man was about to cry, but he wiped at his nose with the back of his hand instead, "'Scuse me, I gotta take a whizz."

As soon as he was gone, Peter turned to Galaxy first, "You buying it?"

"I don't know-"

Before Galaxy could finish, her brother turned to Gamora, "Not buying it."

Gamora sighed, "Peter and…_Ariel, _we need to take a walk."

The trio got to their feet and walked away from the campfire and towards the crash _Milano. _Galaxy eyed her brother carefully, wondering what was going through his head. As Ego as spoken, Galaxy had felt as if _this _was the dream moment her brother had wanted as a child. An adventurous man saying that he was their father had shown up and was offering to actually _be _their father. It felt like it was too good to be true, and while Galaxy had felt some sort of connection to the man, she couldn't help but wonder how true those feelings were. Peter clearly didn't share those feelings. He was horrible at hiding his emotions and Galaxy had been watching him closely. He had been defensive, angry, and fearful for their safety when Ego had arrived, but those emotions had only given away to frustration and not the odd attraction Galaxy had felt.

His frustration remained bubbling inside until Peter finally burst out as soon as Gamora had indicated that they were out of Ego's earshot, "Give me a break! After all this time, and he just expects to be our dad all of the sudden!" He turned to look at Galaxy, "Don't tell me you don't feel that way too."

"It's very suspicious," Galaxy agreed, "He's only looking for us because _you_ got famous. He hardly even knows who I am besides I'm your sister," she paused and then shook her head, "He couldn't even get my _name _right."

Nodding, Peter turned to Gamora, "This could be a trap," he pointed out to her, "The Kree purists, the Ravagers, now the Sovereign – they _all _want us dead."

"I know," Gamora agreed slowly, "but-"

"But what?"

"Peter, let her finish."

Gamora sent Galaxy the smallest nod of gratitude as Peter muttered an apology, "What was that story you to me about Zardu Hasselfrau?" In any other circumstances, the question would have made Galaxy burst out laughing. Even Peter, who was still very upset, had looked more than a bit amused when he asked Gamora who she was talking about. Eyeing their expressions carefully, Gamora rolled her eyes before she pressed on, "The wonderful television-singerman. He had a magic boat."

"David Hasselhoff?" Galaxy guessed. When Gamora confirmed her guess, Galaxy realized _exactly _where the story was going.

When Peter had been trying to fit in, he decided to get a picture of their father. Their mother had none, of course, so Peter turned to the magazines. Somehow, he had decided that David Hasselhoff was the perfect stand-in. He had excitedly explained his plan to Galaxy on the bus to school, showing her the photos he had cut out. Before Galaxy could warn him against it, he had stood up on the bus seat and had told everyone that their father was David Hasselhoff. All throughout the day, the other kids would come up to him and ask for proof or ask where Hasselhoff was, and Peter would either show them the pictures or tell them that he was off filming _'Knight Rider' _or touring with his band in Germany.

Just as Galaxy had guessed, Gamora was bringing that story up; the details were fuzzy and needed to be filled in by Peter, but it still got the point across. When she was done, she took Peter's hand as she said earnestly, "I love that story."

"I don't," Peter said, though Galaxy noticed that he didn't withdraw his hand from Gamora's, "It's just sad. I was so sad because I'd see the other kids off playing catch with their dads, and I wanted that more than anything in the world," he paused and looked over at Galaxy, "You wanted that too, didn't you?"

Galaxy winced at the question, but she didn't argue against it. She just gave Peter a slow, tired nod that she knew would not make him press for more. Like her brother, she had felt anger and jealously towards all the other kids with fathers, but her primary want had just been to be _normal. _In the country community they had grown up in, a single mother trapped in the past who gave them odd snacks and took them on odd trips had been an isolating difference between Galaxy and her peers. For her, the lack of a father was only a symptom of the much larger struggle Galaxy had felt in her difference, and that meant her want for a father was less than the want her brother had always expressed. It was a disconnect that Peter was oblivious to, and Galaxy wasn't about to bring his attention to it _now. _

It had been obvious from the moment Ego had given his offer that Peter, and therefore Galaxy, would agree to going with him. Peter wouldn't waste that opportunity and Galaxy, though her want for a father wasn't as strong as her brother's, wasn't going to waste the chance either. She had wanted a father too, one that she could remember with the same palpable love that Gamora spoke about her own father. With the hint of tears in Gamora's eyes as she talked about her want to see her late father just _one _more time, Peter sighed and agreed to go and Galaxy added her agreement as well.

After all the internal struggle, Ego's reaction to their agreement was a let down. When the trio had returned to the campfire and gave him their answer, Ego just nodded, yawned, and said that it would be best to take off during the day.

* * *

Night had ended just as quickly as the day had, which meant that it was only about a few hours of sleep until it was bright. Groggily, the Guardians, Galaxy, Nebula, Ego, and the female insect-like alien started to prepare for the journey. Rocket and Groot would stay behind to repair the _Milano _while the rest of the Guardians would go along with Galaxy, Gamora, and Peter, but that still left Nebula. She had had a scowl on her face from the moment Galaxy had agreed to go with Ego, and that scowl only got worse when Galaxy drew Nebula away from the others to request that she remain with the _Milano _as well.

Nebula stared at Galaxy in a horrified silence that was almost comical in the sheer outrage she had, an outrage that made her shout, "You're leaving me with that fox?!"

Galaxy winced at the shout and waited until it was no longer ringing in the air before she explained herself. As odd as it was, Ronan was the reason she was requesting Nebula to stay behind; it was only a matter of time until he found out about the fight with the Sovereign, and Galaxy knew he would immediately track the _Milano _down. If he arrived at the crash without Galaxy _and _Nebula there, she knew he wouldn't listen to Rocket and go after the Sovereign himself in a mission that was suicide. If Nebula was at the crash, however, then Ronan's anger, which was really fear for her safety, would calm until she returned from Ego's planet.

Excluding the muttered comments, the glares, and the various frustrated sighs, Nebula didn't interrupt Galaxy's explanation. When it was finished, Nebula had paced back and forth for several moments before she turned to Galaxy with a harsh glare, "I will _not _be responsible for them," she snapped, "If anyone attacks us, I will _not _protect them."

"All you need to do is calm Ronan," Galaxy agreed quickly.

Though it was very, very clear Nebula was _not _pleased with staying behind, she relented by waving her hand in a clear dismissal. Not wanting to risk Nebula changing her mind, Galaxy quickly separated from her to join Gamora, Peter, and Drax. Upon her arrival, Drax tensed considerably, but Galaxy was far too used to his reaction to her presence to be bothered by it. As always, she just focused her attention on her brother and Gamora, who were both far more welcoming towards her.

Having just returned from the wreckage, Peter had retrieved his Walkman and had strapped it to his waist while the headphones hung around his neck. Grinning at her, he handed Galaxy her own Walkman as well and she held the familiar item tightly with a soft smile on her face. She had given it to Ronan before she had left, not wanting to risk the priceless object breaking, so if Peter had it then Ronan had taken the time to grab it for her along with the clothes for herself and Nebula.

"I replaced the batteries," Peter informed her with a shrug, "Figured you'd want it."

Wrapping an arm around his side for a half-hug, Galaxy moved away to strap the Walkman to the waist of her jeans. It was heavy and impractical, but the familiar weight was comforting. Holding up half of the headphones so that she could press one of the earpieces to her ear, she pressed the play button. She had listened to both mixtapes enough times to know the track orders by heart, so she knew without checking that the track playing was from Vol. 2. It wasn't however, the ELO song that started off the tape. Fleetwood Mac's _The Chain, _track four, was playing instead. The song's heavy lyrics, a want to break free from a chain that was keeping them together no matter how destructive it was for them, had stood apart from the other upbeat songs on the tape. She had always wondered why her mom had included it, but she didn't know if she liked the answer.

While watching the farewells play out between the Guardians of the Galaxy with the song playing over them, an uneasy knot settled in her stomach. Perhaps it was just the lyrics getting to her, but in that moment, Galaxy was horribly certain that the want to break all connection to each other while also being stuck was as present in the song as it was in the group in front of her. The realization made her take off the headphones and pause the track, but the unease remained. She was able to push past it, and by the time she, Peter, Gamora, and Drax walked up the pathway to the door of Ego's ship, her thoughts had nothing to do with the relationship of the Guardians.

As soon as the door slid open and Ego and the insect-like alien were revealed to be waiting for them, Galaxy could feel that same connection with Ego. It was why, when she walked past him and he pulled her into a half-hug, that she didn't fight his attempt. She could feel his heart beating very quickly, but she didn't think anything up it until after, from a whispering Gamora, did she found out that he looked heartbroken when he hugged her. That was in the future, however, and in the now, Galaxy brushed off the hug. It was odd, but who was she to decide what a normal father-daughter relationship was? She had hardly had any models, so for all she knew, it was normal the same way Ego's clasp on Peter's shoulder when he walked past was.

The thoughts about the hug were quickly thrown out the window when Galaxy took in Ego's spaceship. It was the same bright white, sleek material as the exterior, but when she brushed her hand along one of the walls, she was surprised at the warm, almost-organic feeling instead of the plastic-like one she had expected. Throughout the ship, there were various holes in the walls and the ceilings where yellow blobs floated lazily that reminded Galaxy of lava lamps. Her mother had had one and Galaxy would watch the blobs inside of it for hours, entranced by the way they broke apart and floated out of sight only to return as a giant blob once more.

For most the part, there was no furniture in the first part of the craft. Once everyone was inside, they were led to a seating room through a series of hallways. It had no doors to cut off the space, but Galaxy didn't feel exposed when she sat down on one of the seats. The seats themselves were surprisingly comfortable, and she quickly found herself relaxed, her back against the warm wall. Ego disappeared for a moment, and Galaxy felt the vibrations under her feet from the engine, but besides that there was no signal that they had taken off, yet when Ego came back, he informed them that they had begun their journey to his planet.

With the promise of a long flight ahead, he disappeared and then reappeared with tea for everyone. Galaxy had no idea what was in the tea, but she quickly fell in love with the flavor. It was at that perfect temperature where it was warm enough that the heat spread through your body, but it wasn't scalding. She supposed that she should have been more careful, and that Ego's casual, "I hardly remember," when Gamora asked about the ingredients of the tea should have been a warning to her, but Galaxy ignored it in favor of just enjoying the delicious drink her father, if he really _was _her father, had given her.

It made her frown when Ego announced that he was going to go and sleep, but she didn't say anything on the subject. Her eyes followed him as he left the seating area for a sleeping chamber that was across the way and somewhat hidden by various walls. She could barely see him stretched out on a slab, but she could see the female insect-like alien, her hand on his forehead. The lights at the end of her antennas lit up, and Galaxy could see that whatever she did relaxed Ego's body and made his breathing deepen and slow as he went to sleep.

Galaxy tore her gaze from the display to look at her brother. He had long since taken off his headphones and was sitting with a piece of paper in his lap. When Galaxy narrowed her gaze to get a better look, she could just make out familiar curly brown hair. It took her a minute, but when she did realize that the picture in her brother's hands was of David Hasselhoff, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Despite all the things that had changed in his life, it was clear to Galaxy that Peter was still deeply connected to that little boy who wanted his father.

* * *

Ego proved to be right about the flight. Though it was clear that his ship was far more advanced than anything the Guardians or Galaxy had ever seen, there was only so much technology could do about time. While Ego's ship certainly made their current flight shorter than it would have been on the _Milano, _that didn't necessarily mean the flight was short.

At first, Galaxy had napped. She had placed the Walkman earphones over her ears, restarted the mixtape, and turned down the volume so that the upbeat songs became relaxing. At some point, she had started to use Peter's shoulder as a pillow, and while it wasn't the most comfortable position, she still was able to fall asleep and remain that away for some time.

When she woke up a few hours later, she was formally introduced to the mysterious insect-like alien. Her name was Mantis, and Galaxy instantly deemed her as sweet and naïve. Drax had already started to use her naivety to make jokes at her expense, but Mantis, so clueless about others, laughed loudly at the jokes.

A bit thirsty and hungry after her nap, Galaxy smiled at a few of the jokes before she left to the kitchens. There, she found Gamora standing with her own cup of tea and a pensive look on her face. She didn't react to Galaxy's presence, lost in thought, until Galaxy asked, "What's wrong?"

Gamora glanced around the kitchen, but despite it being empty, her voice was still a whisper when she spoke, "Ego's face when he hugged you bothered me. He looked like he was heartbroken."

Galaxy frowned and looked down as she tried to replay the hug from Ego, "His heart was beating really fast," she remembered. She looked up at Gamora with a frown of her own. "Maybe he was just sad because he didn't have a lot of time with me?"

Her suggestion was not convincing in the slightest, and it was clear that Gamora had not been convinced by it. She shrugged and looked down at her own tea and the kitchen fell silent for a couple of minutes until Gamora looked up from her tea to announce that she was going to return to the others. The unease Gamora was feeling made it go without question that Galaxy would go with her.

* * *

Upon arriving in the seating area, it was clear that Peter and Drax were in good moods. Drax announced that he and Peter had a bet about the purpose of Mantis' antennas.

"I say that if you're about to go through a doorway that is too low, your antennas will feel this and stop you from being decapitated," Drax informed Mantis who touched her antennas with a child-like frown.

"Just making it clear – if it's anything else – any other answer – I win."

Galaxy couldn't help but smile at the prideful look on Drax's face. It was so funny to see him so sure about something when it was obviously wrong. When Mantis informed them that her antennas were _not _for feeling doorways, Drax's face fell in dismayed shock. "I think they have something to do with my empathic abilities," Mantis suggested.

"What are they?" Galaxy asked. She had felt Gamora stiffen next to her, standing against the wall with her as the bet played out in front of them, but it was so hard for Galaxy to look at Mantis and not certain that the alien would never harm someone. It would be impossible for her to fake such naivety.

"If I touch someone, I can feel their feelings," Mantis answered.

Now Peter stiffened as well, "You read minds?"

"No. Telepaths know thoughts. Empaths feel feelings. Emotions." Almost like a puppy, she cocked her head to the side as she faced Peter, "May I?" When Peter made no sign of protest, she cautiously reached out and touched his hand. Galaxy could see Mantis' hand quivering from this small, simple contact, and her antennas lit up like they had when she was by Ego's side.

"You feel…love," Mantis breathed.

"Yeah, I guess, yeah. I have sort of a general, unselfish love for everyone," Peter said with a nervous laugh.

"Yes," Mantis agreed, "a love for a sibling is there. But beyond that, there's romantic, sexual love."

"No. No, I don't."

Ignoring his protests, Mantis turned and nodded to Gamora, "For her."

Galaxy could feel her own smile and see the smallest smile Gamora had and Peter's blush at the reveal from Mantis, but the true reaction was Drax. He took one look at the two of them, started to roar with laughter, and asked Mantis to do him as well. When she touched his hand, she grinned brightly. "I have never felt such humor," she said and then dissolved into hysterical laughter that Drax quickly added to.

Peter started to grumble protests, which made Galaxy giggle as well. She could feel the death-glare Gamora was sending her, but that didn't stop Galaxy from giggling at the expense of her brother and her friend. If Gamora had actually been bothered by the emotions she would have stopped, but the small smile on Gamora's face, as faint as it was, was all the proof Galaxy needed to safely giggle while knowing that Gamora felt the same way about her brother.

She was still giggling as Mantis, wiping at the tears from her hysterical laughter, got to her feet and reached out to find out Gamora's emotions, but Gamora's hand was far quicker and it trapped Mantis' clothing-covered one as she warned, "Touch me, and the only thing you're going to feel is a broken jaw."

Not needing to be told twice, Mantis backed away from Gamora. She briefly turned her large eyes onto Galaxy, but a quick shake of her head made Mantis nod, smile, and turn back to Peter and Drax. "I can also alter emotions, to some extent," she revealed.

"Like what?"

Mantis swung her gaze onto Peter as she answered his question, "If I touch someone who is sad, I can ease them into contentment for a short while. I can make a stubborn person complaint. But I mostly use it to help my Master sleep." For the first time, Galaxy saw a frown grow on Mantis' face as the alien's gaze fell on the still sleeping Ego, "He lies awake at night, thinking about his progeny."

Galaxy felt a heat flood through her, and she looked over at Ego as well. Had he really cared about her and her brother so much that he lied awake at night thinking about them? Maybe her suggestion in the kitchen was actually right, and Ego had looked heartbroken because it had made him sad to know all the time he had missed. She looked away from Ego to take in her brother's reaction. He looked just as touched as she felt.

When he felt his gaze on him, he looked up so that their eyes met. Deliberately, Peter gave Galaxy a small smile. The expression meant more than just showing that he was happy, it was also to display his emotions about Ego. Within only a few hours, Peter had warmed up a _lot _to Ego, and Galaxy could feel herself doing the same.

She was abruptly pulled from her thoughts by a loud crash and a sudden _snore. _The source of the noise was quickly apparent, and she took in the sleeping Drax and the guilty expression on Mantis' face. Drax must have asked Mantis to put him to sleep, and the sudden change of consciousness had sent him collapsing backwards. Even with the fall, he was still snoring periodically and asleep, and a glance towards the sleeping chamber told Galaxy that Ego was still asleep as well. Perhaps it was nonsense, but she couldn't help but wonder if Ego and Drax shared the same issue of lying awake and thinking about their children. Though she wasn't a fan of Drax, the idea made her hope that he would be able to have some peaceful nights, just as she hoped that Ego, with herself and Peter in his life, could sleep peacefully as well.

* * *

**I am so sorry this is late! A lot of stuff has been going on with picking out college and getting ready for AP exams, so I was super busy this week and wasn't able to edit anything until tonight. Despite the last minute editing, I'm actually pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. There's a lot of stuff getting build up here that will come back later, so it's a pretty important chapter even if nothing plot-wise happens. **

**There's not much else to really say, so review time:**

**importchic: Thank you! I'm glad that you're liking it so far. **

**As an important note, if you leave any spoilers in the reviews for Endgame I will be incredibly pissed. I, and many people, have not seen in it yet. Remember: #DontSpoilTheEndgame! See y'all next week! **


	3. Chapter 3

Far, far away from Ego's ship, the crashed _Milano _was still in the same sorry state. Had any of the group that left that morning returned, they would find the _Milano's _wreckage identical to how it had been that morning. Despite a wand-like object that was able to rebuild the entire ship just by holding it steady at the broken parts, no progress had been made on the wreckage.

There was a reason for this lack of progress; simply put, repairing the _Milano _was not the highest priority on Rocket Raccoon's list. Some may have found this odd since the goal given to Rocket was to repair the ship and the tool he had did not work quickly, but Rocket had never acted normally, and that wasn't about to change. Even his status as a protector of the galaxy, a _hero, _was very odd when his life of continuing crime was taken into account. While some were satisfied with the straight and narrow path of an average life, Rocket had always found it stifling compared to his _own _path he could forge. It wouldn't be _fun _for him to just be average or normal, and fun was the most important thing in Rocket's life.

His reason for not working on the _Milano, _however, was separate from his want to enjoy his own path in life. While the work he was doing currently was fun, that was only a bonus for the tasks that amounted to a job; a fun job, but still a job.

While he would never be believed by the group that had left in the morning, he had planned on working on the _Milano _until everyone was back. He had just been in the middle of that when he was interrupted by two annoying people, Nebula and blue-face himself, _Ronan. _Rocket didn't hold grudges, he much preferred destructively punishing people instead of just being angry at them, but Ronan was the rare exception ever since Peter had announced that blue-face was off limits. Rocket hated that rule then, and he hated it even more _now _when Ronan, the _thing _at fault for child Groot, was standing in front of him. Oh sure, Ronan hadn't touched Groot, but the events that led to Groot's destruction was Ronan's fault.

With a severe glare, Rocket fully intended to make Ronan very aware of his emotions towards him, but he was cut off by blue-face's brisk information that the Sovereign had placed a bounty on _all _their heads and Yondu's group of Ravagers were coming to claim their bounty. Their was no way to escape off this planet since the Ravagers were too close and would just track them as soon as they left, which meant they had one option: attack.

Now working in a very grudging, uneasy alliance with Nebula and Ronan, Rocket had gotten to work setting up the traps necessary to take out as many Ravagers as possible. He had been in worse odds where he and later Groot, would take on massive armies, but this time was decidedly different. There was no Groot to watch out for him, and he was constantly reminded of that whenever he had the misfortune of seeing blue-face. He _hated _that he was in this position, he _hated _that he had been left behind, and he _hated _that he had to ask that Groot would be protected since _he _couldn't.

The only thing he didn't hate was the song, one of Quill's about southern nights, that he was humming along to. Rocket complained about Quill's music all the time, if only to see his stupid face tighten as he pretended that the insults didn't bother him. He would never tell Quill that he actually enjoyed the music quite a bit; it was catchy, had upbeat rhythms, and was entertaining in its simple way. As a simple creature, Rocket liked it. He also liked that it worked as a lure for stupid Ravagers. With the sound of Rocket's humming and an obvious fire that sent sparks up into the sky, the Ravagers were drawn to the _Milano _with complete ignorance that they were walking into a massive pool of traps. He hadn't expected much of the crew led by Yondu, but he was still disappointed at how easy it was to get them into the positions he needed them to be in.

Ronan and Nebula were by the wreckage, waiting in the dark for the Ravagers to arrive, and Rocket was close to them as well...if one ignored the height difference between them, that is. If any of the Ravagers looked up as they passed along the various paths in the dense forest, they might have seen a dark shadow move, or saw the leaves shaking without any source. Because they were stupid, they wouldn't think much of it until Rocket, obscured by the darkness, hummed to the music while the group set off a dart trap. As they were hit and fell, one set off a few rounds of bullets, but Rocket continued to hum as he was oblivious to the noise and not scowling at the Ravager who had alerted some of the groups that there was something wrong.

He didn't remain in that area for long. Spotting a large group approaching the _Milano _from a rear path, he started to leap through the trees until he was above them. He hadn't bothered to be stealthy, and eventually, one of the Ravagers had enough sense to look up at the trees that were rustling without any wind. The man spotted the partially hidden Rocket and shouted a warning to the others in the group. With horrible aiming, the group shot at the trees while Rocket had fun dodging the bullets. It was all a game to him, and that game was far from over when he stilled and pressed one of two buttons on a device firmly grasped in his hand. Half of the Ravager group flew up into air while the other half, still on the ground, gaped up at him stupidly until Rocket pressed the other button and they were sent up as well. Over and over, he pressed the buttons with a wicked smile as the men were thrown into the air, landed with a huff, and thrown into the air again. He only stopped when the bombs powering his game died, and as he took in the sorry state the Ravagers were in, a hot flash of pride went through him.

He couldn't linger for as long as he wanted to, because another group was approaching. Traveling through the tree, he slowed and became a silent, deadly shadow when he neared the group. They were far more alert than his previous victims, but they were unable to spot him even as he stood on a limb with a collection of discs As soon as the last Ravager had passed underneath him, he dropped down and landed on the man's back. Before he could react, he slapped a disc onto the back of the man's head and jumped to Ravager in front of him to give him the same treatment. Once all the Ravagers had their presents, Rocket disappeared in the trees and watched as each Ravager tried to make out what their new best friend was on the back of their head. Barely suppressing a cackle, he flicked the trigger and the discs were charged with electricity that caused the men to convulse and fall to the ground unconscious and occasionally twitching.

His traps were genius since _he _was a genius, but geniuses could make mistakes and Rocket made a large one. He had misjudged the number of traps he needed, but he figured that most of the Ravagers were taken out by now so it was safe enough for him to drop from the trees and run through the clearing to the _Milano. _His traps were hidden in the front of the ship, so all he had to do was sprint in, grab some more equipment, and use a hole in the dark back of the ship to escape into the trees once more.

As soon as he was on the ground, Rocket realized that his plan needed to be modified. Two Ravagers, one from the front and one from the back, were approaching him with their guns trained onto him. Nebula or Ronan wouldn't be able to make their way over in time to stop Rocket getting blasted in the face, but there was nothing new in having to save his own life. The Ravager in front of him started to taunt him, but Rocket ignored the words in favor of zeroing in on the man's throat. As soon as he was close enough, Rocket jumped onto the man's face and viciously punched that tender part of the man's throat. The man's wheezing gasp and clear struggle for air earned no remorse from Rocket; he was too busy using the man as a spring board to back flip off so the bullet the other Ravager fired hit his companion instead. For his failure in killing him, Rocket punched the man rapidly until he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Jumping away from the fallen Ravagers, Rocket's original plan was intact again, but it ended when a whistle echoed through the clearing. Looking up, he could see the sharp arrow whizzing through the air directly at his head. There was no way he could outrun it, so all Rocket could do was let his face fall and say, "Crap."

Another whistle stopped the arrow abruptly so its tip was just grazing Rocket's forehead. It was a decision made by the controller of the arrow, and that controller was walking towards him with a large smirk. Yondu, the leader of the band of Ravagers that had kidnapped and raised Peter, was approaching with many, many Ravagers that all looked very, very pissed at Rocket. With no other option, Rocket raised his hands in clear surrender; the gesture made the Ravagers chortle and whisper taunts, but Rocket didn't care if it meant Groot could be safe.

"Hey there, rat," Yondu greeted as soon as the Ravagers had completely surrounded Rocket. "This your friend?"

Four Ravagers, the largest ones of the group, were needed to drag Ronan to the middle of the circle. When he was near enough to Rocket, they quickly backed away as Ronan turned on them. The only thing that stopped him was a whistle that moved the arrow from Rocket's forehead to just in front of Ronan's eyes. Slowly, Ronan backed away from the aroow, but it wasn't until he was in the middle of the circle and next to Rocket that Yondu made the arrow float in between the two of them. It wasn't against either of their heads, but it was still clear that one wrong move would lead to the arrow going through their forehead and out of the back of their head.

It wasn't the greatest of situations Rocket had been in, but he had been in worse. He sent Yondu a toothy smirk and asked, "How's it going, you blue idiot?"

"Eh, not so bad. We got a pretty good gig. A golden gal with quite a high opinion of herself offered us a large sum of money to deliver you, your pals, Quill's sister, and some robot to her," Yondu sent Rocket a grin, but it was not a kind one, "so she can kill y'all."

"Yondu, you know who I am. If you let us go –"

A sharp whistle and a sudden arrow against his forehead made Ronan go silent. He glared at Yondu, but all that did is make Yondu's lip curl, "I know who you are," he said slowly. "I know _exactly _who you are and that ain't good for ya." In one jerk, he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a dark blue barcode. At the sight of it, Ronan recoiled, but Yondu still kept it out and, with another sharp whistle, forced Ronan to look at the markings. After a minute or so had passed, Yondu hissed at Ronan, "You know what hand you had in this. And I'm going to make sure you suffer for it."

When Yondu turned his glare onto Rocket, he winced and waited for Yondu to show the same out of anger to him, but he never did. Though his eyes were harder than before, Yondu smirked at Rocket and almost casually said, "Pretty easy to find you since we put a tracker on your ship after Xandar."

Rocket knew he was beat, but he was _never _going to give up. He had always hoped to bargain with the other man, and while he had hoped to keep Yondu in a good mood, he still attempted it, "You give me your word you won't hurt Groot, and I'll tell you where the batteries are."

He could tell that Yondu was going to take the deal. His posture, while still stiff with anger, relaxed ever-so slightly. It was a change not many would notice, but Rocket had been making deals long enough that he _knew _how to read body language. It had always been clear to him that Yondu had never wanted to kill him, and while Ronan had thrown the situation Rocket had planned for, Yondu's opinion of Rocket hadn't changed.

He barely held back a smirk of his own as Yondu confirmed his thoughts with his very next words, "Lucky for you, my word don't mean squat. Otherwise, I'd actually hand you over."

Rocket had seen the tension in Yondu's group of Ravagers, but even _he _was unprepared for the infighting that broke out from Yondu's statement. A giant Ravager with a heavily scarred face started it by protesting _loudly _at Yondu's decisive. Yondu started to defend himself, arguing that they would still make a quarter million with the batteries, baffling wrong math followed as the Ravager group attempted to decide just how much less they would get from the batteries. First, a quarter of the million was one-third of the million that the Sovereign was offering, then it was four times a million, then it was 25...and _just _25 credits, not 25,000.

Protests were rumbling through the Ravagers like thunder before a storm. Rocket usually loved this type of conflict and would actively try to intensify it just for the fun of it, but that was when he was in a nice distance away and not right in the middle of possible crossfire. Normally, Rocket _liked _to be in the center of attention, but in this case he was more than happy to let Yondu act as the main figure, "The point _is _we aren't stupid enough to help kill the Guardians of the Galaxy. We'd have the whole Nova Corps on us."

At first, the Ravagers seemed to have been swayed by Yondu's point. Sure, the tension was still lingering in the air and most of the Ravagers' faces were less than happy, but for the most part the aggressive energy building just moments ago had calmed. And then one Ravager, younger than the rest, stepped out and disagreed with Yondu. He claimed that Yondu had always protected Quill over _all _the Ravagers, even those who stuck up for him. Even though it was a respectful disagreement, a clear invention for a discussion later on, the point from the younger Ravager was all that was needed for everything to fall a part. Shouts of agreement and general anger at Yondu's leadership started to grow from the crowd, and the scarred Ravager who had first spoken against Yondu stepped forward with the demand of new leadership and his gun trained on Yondu. Others followed his lead, so the Ravagers still loyal to Yondu pointed their weapons at the disloyal people.

Infighting would destroy the Ravager group and mean one less headache for Rocket or the rest of his group to worry about, but his current location made any benefits disappear. The Ravagers were still in the ring around Rocket and Ronan, leaving them exposed to the crossfire when the shots were fired. Based off the intelligence he had seen from the various groups caught in his traps, Rocket knew that their ability to successfully hit their target was nonexistent. As soon as bullets went off, it would only be a matter of time until one was lodged into his brain.

Vainly and driven by the sheer hope to not die, Rocket attempted to get the Ravagers' minds back on him by shouting, "Hold on! There's got to be some sort of peaceful resolution here! Or even a violent resolution where I'm standing over there."

No one paid attention to his shouts. Even Yondu, currently Rocket's best chance to get out of this entire situation alive, was fully focused on the scarred Ravager that had first started the protests. Over the various yells in the group, Rocket could faintly make out Yondu starting to whistle and he could see the arrow moving slowly towards the scarred Ravager.

A gunshot rang out; its source made Rocket realize that letting Ronan and Nebula decide their respective roles _might _not have been his best choice. Almost the punch line of a sick joke, Yondu's expression as his fin was blown off was comically confused before he and his arrow fell to the ground. Behind him, Nebula was standing with a freshly fired pistol that Rocket _knew _he hadn't given to her. He was only able to glare at Nebula before he was blasted with electricity from another shot. In a matter of seconds, he was unconscious and knew no more. Only later, when he woke up on the Ravagers' ship, would he discover that Ronan had received the same treatment.

* * *

Blissfully unaware of the situation at the _Milano, _the group of Galaxy, Peter, Gamora, Drax, Mantis, and a freshly awoken Ego stepped out on a floating, tram-like object. At a leisurely pace, the object floated through the air to allow everyone to get a long look at Ego's planet.

The first color Galaxy noticed was red; it was carried throughout the planet as the primary color, but there were other colors as well. Galaxy quickly became overwhelmed by the bright greens, blues, yellows, and so many more colors that surrounded her and split her attention. The plant life was colorful, alien, and flourished in their surroundings next to tall, twisting objects that seemed to reach the sky. It was almost as if everything around Galaxy had no other purpose except to look splendid.

"Welcome, friends, to my world," Ego said with clear and bright pride. Unlike the pride her brother had shown towards flying the _Milano, _this was a pride that Galaxy couldn't fault because if she had a planet like _this, _she would boast about it too. Even with his pride, however, Ego was still humble about the beauty of his planet, laughing that it was about the same size as Earth's moon when Peter expressed the awe that Galaxy was feeling.

"Humility, I like it," Drax declared. "I too am extraordinarily humble."

Galaxy's usual annoyance of Drax's inane comments was absent as she basked in her surroundings. Instead of rolling her eyes, she focused on the multicolored clumps, similar to the bubbles her mom would create with a giant wand, that floated past. Reaching out, she lightly brushed one with the tip of her finger and watched as it burst into smaller, variant hues that floated through the air lazily.

She didn't know where to focus because there was just so much going on around her. Slowly, but surely, one thing captured her attention. Her eyes were pulled towards a palace sitting gracefully on the top of a mountain, their destination. As they got closer to it and Galaxy was able to see the details literally carved into it, the texture so sleek yet organic, that Galaxy couldn't help her little gasp of, "It's beautiful."

She was so transfixed that she hardly heard Ego's chuckle. Her eyes remained on the castle until the tram-like ride had arrived at its dock and the palace was looming over her. The floor was the same sleek material as Ego's craft and the palace, but when Galaxy stood on it, she found that it was almost spongy and certainly just as organic as everything else.

Not letting them linger, Ego led them until they were in front of a large fountain. Pausing, he turned to Galaxy and Peter with a proud, blinding smile. "Peter, Ariel, consider this a token of a father's pride."

Turning to the fountain, Ego waved his hands and the waters of the fountain _responded. _Ever since Xandar, Galaxy had known that her father, while maybe human in appearance, wasn't human. Still, she had not expected him to be able to control basic elements like water. She hardly believed her eyes, but she couldn't deny that the waters simply fell away to reveal a giant statue of _herself _and _her brother _standing side-by-side while the rest of the Guardians knelt around them as if they were worshiping them.

Still with that proud smile, Ego explained that the statue was a memorial to how his children saved the galaxy through diplomacy single-handily. When he saw Galaxy's stunned expression, he chuckled again, "I know us heroes aren't supposed to do things for _glory, _but when I found out that no one had done anything to celebrate your achievement I _had _to fix that."

If Galaxy had to pinpoint a time when her doubts started about Ego, she would decide that they truly started when she was looking up at that statue. The little inklings from before when her gut would clench ever-so-slightly, like when Gamora mentioned Ego's face when he hugged her, had gone ignored by Galaxy, but they had never disappeared. Now, they came roaring back as she stared at her face carved into a statue and truly heard Ego's words for perhaps the first time since she had been around him. In a bitter echo, she could hear the memory of her own voice bitterly saying, _"Heroes aren't that great. They only protect the good and leave everyone else to fend for themselves." _

She still shared those feelings that had led her to speak out against a system she saw as broken, and when she took in the statue that Ego had created, those feelings rose up in her. It made her move her gaze from the statue to look at Ego with her head slightly tilted. She hoped to see some sort of joke or laughter, a sign that he was just kidding about why he had made the statue, but there was nothing there. Surely, though, her brother felt the same way as herself even if Ego didn't. She didn't have to even look over at him because he made his feelings clear with his stunned, "It's perfect."

Doubt could be a tricky thing, and with her feelings isolating her from Peter or Ego, Galaxy started to doubt herself. She took in the statue once more and bit her bottom lip. It _was _a nice gesture, and she had heard rumors that just featured herself or Peter since they _had _held the Infinity Stone the longest. Perhaps she was just overreacting; Ego clearly meant well and its the thought that counts...right? _Gamora _didn't look concerned, though she was certainly irritated, and if she, with all her knowledge, wasn't concerned then why should Galaxy?

Her doubts about Ego quieted for now, she was more than happy to walk next to Peter as Ego led them up the stairs of the palace. Gamora, however, was still irritated and it showed in her voice as she all-but snapped, "You own a planet and can destroy two dozen spaceship without a suit. What are you, exactly?"

Ego gave Gamora a lazy smile as he answered, "I'm what they call a Celestial, sweetheart."

Ego didn't bother to continue after his revelation; he waited patiently, watching as the shock played out on the Guardian's and Galaxy's faces. Everyone knew the stories and myths about Celestials, even Galaxy and Peter. The widespread nature of their stories had always been explained through the tales that they had meddled in different species, sometimes traveling through time to do so. The Celestials, a race of god-like mortals, had powers so enormous mortals just couldn't understand the concept of them. Powers, however, didn't stop the Celestials from disappearing, and they were all eventually wiped out in various wars between themselves. Those that had escaped the carnage were forgotten and lost in both space and time.

Peter swallowed audibly and was barely able to say, "A _Celestial. _Like a...God?"

"Small 'g,' son," Ego corrected with a fond smile. "At least on the days I'm feeling as humble as Drax," he added with a burst of laughter.

While their process was certainly much slower than before, the group still followed behind Ego as he led them up the stairs to he two giant doors of his palace. With one lazy hand, Ego opened the doors to reveal a magnificent hall cloaked in a light golden color that almost shimmered in the air. When Galaxy walked in and took a tentative breath, she jerked back at the tangy taste in her mouth. Her reaction made Ego chuckle, but he didn't offer any explanation. In fact, he didn't even speak until they were near the back of the hall with diorama-like objects covering both sides.

"This form you see before you is only an extension of who I truly am."

With that statement, Ego started the explanation of his history. In that moment, Galaxy had a distinct feeling of déjà vu as the atmosphere shifted to one she faintly remembered. In the little town that she had grown up in, the Bible and Christianity in general was just one of the things you _had _to be involved with; of course, that meant that Galaxy, Peter, and their mother were seen as outcasts for their lack of religion too. They _had _gone once, and Galaxy could remember her first, and last, Sunday School. Dressed in an uncomfortable, itchy dress, Galaxy had sat on the floor with all the other girls as the teacher opened the Bible and read with the precision that came from _years _of reading the same words, _"'In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.'"_

The other girls had listened with apt attention unnatural for a four or five year old, but Galaxy had immediately been _bored. _She fiddled with her dress and drew lines in the carpet as she listened to the teacher say something that Galaxy just didn't believe in, and when the teacher chastised her about her behavior, Galaxy told her the distinct thought that had playing on a loop in her head, "_What you're saying ain't true."_

It was that same distinct thought that was running through her head currently as Ego told his story. She had more control over herself now, and she had learned from the consequences that came from her proclamation at Sunday School that informing Ego that she thought his story was bull _wasn't _the best idea. Her doubts, however, weren't quiet in her mind even as she watched the diorama that went along with Ego's story.

"The first thing I remember is flickering adrift in the cosmos, utterly and entirely alone. I fed on the matter around me like plankton. I grew smarter and stronger. I formed a sheathe to protect myself from the elements. I continued to build from there, layer by layer, the _very _planet you walk on now. I built the spires reaching up to the sky and the tunnels burrowing into its depths. But I was not to be fulfilled solely by the labor. I wanted more. I desired…meaning. There must be some life out there in the universe besides just me, I thought, and I set myself with the task of finding it. I created what I imagined biological life might be like down to the most minute detail."

"Did you make a penis?" Drax's unwanted question made Galaxy glare at him and Peter harshly inform that he should _not _ask those questions, but Drax just shrugged and asked, "If he's a planet, how did he make a baby with your mother? He would smash her."

"I don't need to hear about my parents…you _know-"_

"Why not? My father would tell me the story of impregnating my mother every Winter Solstice."

Despite the blush from Galaxy and the uncomfortable shifting from Peter, Ego informed Drax and the rest of the group that he _did _have a penis, it wasn't half bad either, and he also had all the other _junk _that went along with the human body; a response that made Galaxy want to puke, disappear, and burst into flames at the same time.

Thankfully, Ego didn't linger on the topic and continued his tale, "I wanted to experience what it truly meant to be human as I set out among the stars. I visited thousands of planets over thousands of years, one barren husk after another until I found what I sought…_Life. _I was not alone in this universe after all."

Looking up at the second diorama that they were on, Galaxy finally asked the question she cared about the most, "When did you meet our mother?"

Ego gave her a soft smile and a light similar to the shimmering one in the hall shined in his eyes. "Not long after."

Gently, Ego placed his hand on Galaxy's shoulder as they stopped at the third diorama for Ego's story. As it swiveled open to reveal faceless, plastic figures of a younger Ego and her mother, Galaxy felt a burning sensation in her eyes and she sniffled as she took a step forward to look up at the familiar figurine. She had almost forgotten how her mother looked, certainly, she had forgotten her mother's voice. The main things she could remember were her mother's eyes and the distinct _kind _sparkle in them even when she was upset. Her mother's eyes would _always _be the thing Galaxy remembered because they were identical to her brother's.

Her mother's eyes were such an important part of her appearance to Galaxy that it was only when they were gone that she was hit with the familiarity. "She looks like _me," _she breathed out, her voice hitching.

Ego stepped next to her and gave her a soft yet weighed down smile as his eyes roamed her face. "You're the spitting image of her," he agreed. "You even sound like her."

Galaxy placed a hand on her throat as she felt it tightening and the burning sensation increase in her eyes. She had a strong urge to blink, but she knew if she did, her barely held back tears would come rushing down her face. "I do?" she asked thickly.

Nodding, Ego sighed heavily, "My River Lily," he said heavily, making it clear that the name was more than _just _a nickname, "it was with her that I experienced love for the first time." Their was a significant pause as he stared up at the figurine of Meredith Quill, and it went unsaid that the silence that fell would only be broken by Ego. After a moment, he cleared his throat and turned his gaze onto Galaxy once more. "From that love _you _and Peter came."

His hand back as a soft weight on her shoulder, Galaxy hated walking away from the figurine of her mother to the final diorama that had just lit up. As soon as she saw the figurine in _that _diorama, however, Galaxy was just as transfixed as before. The figurine of Meredith Quill had been magnified to reveal the inside of her pregnant stomach where two fetuses sat - where _her and her brother _had sat.

"I searched for you two for so long. When I heard a man and a woman from Earth held an Infinity Stone in their hands without dying, I knew it must be the son and the daughter of the woman I loved."

Never before had Galaxy wanted to let go of her doubts about something, yet she was torn between the doubts towards Ego's story and the flaming desire for his story to be true. There were too many questions that were spinning around in Galaxy's mind that made the disparity between the ideas worse. Who _wouldn't _want to meet their father and have him proclaim his love for you? Who could actually look at their father who was saying they loved you and say that they were _lying? _But _who _could walk away from that love? How could you be a Celestial yet not even know what name your daughter goes by?

Tilting her head up so that she didn't loose the battle with her tears, Galaxy stepped out from Ego's hand and asked a question that broke the emotionally heavy atmosphere of the room, "If you loved her, why did you leave?"

* * *

**So sorry this took so long! These chapters are edited quite a bit and it took a lot longer for me to finish than expected. My schedule is dying down after these next two weeks, so thankfully I'll have a lot more time to write and edit soon! **

**As for the actual chapter itself, I'm really proud with it. I really enjoy writing Rocket's perspective, even if it's a bit odd that he's the POV and not Ronan. I kinda felt like Galaxy and Rocket have an interesting relationship in terms of just basic character traits and how some of their aspects are parallel, such as this outsider status they have with the group, while some clash completely, such as Rocket's love for violence and Galaxy's dislike. Both still use it, but Galaxy rather not while Rocket wants to. **

**I also really like the doubts that Galaxy has towards Ego. I think Peter was also very doubtful of Ego, and if I ever do a Peter/OC then I'd probably delve deeper into that, but Peter's desperate want of any affection really blinded him and made him fully believe Ego. Galaxy does have her own issues, self-doubt is really big for her right now and there are more on the way, but wanting any type of affection isn't one of them. She and Peter are two people who are very similar but want very different things, and their response to Ego really highlights those different wants. If I ever have the time, it would be fun to do a one-shot/character analysis. **

**Nothing else to really say, so now...review time:**

**importchic: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this one too! **

**See y'all next week! **


	4. Chapter 4

It said quite a bit about his current situation that Nebula was a tiny part of Rocket's problems. He was far more concerned about Groot's treatment with the Ravagers and the chairs he, Ronan, and Yondu were tied to than he was about Nebula's betrayal. She hadn't killed anyone..._yet, _but she hadn't stopped any deaths either, not that Rocket had expected her to. Whatever Quill's sister had said about trusting Nebula was bullshit, and now Rocket was stuck with the shitty proof, smell and all. Oh _boy _did it smell like sweat and stale, cheap alcohol; Rocket had been to plenty of shady bars that smelled far better than the Ravager ship.

But that was the smell when drunk people become mass murders.

The portion of the crew loyal to Yondu were left without their leader after Nebula had blown up Yondu's fin, and while Yondu was still alive, there was no way he could fight. So the crew loyal to the new commander took advantage of the situation and gathered up Yondu's crew. The motley group of people who were loyal to Yondu and those who were just not liked in general, had been dragged to the various ejection pods around the craft to eventually get sucked out into space and die.

Rocket had seen the death play out repeatedly for nearly an hour now. Each person had screamed, begged, and struggled to escape to the sound of mocking laughter from the others. Each one was dragged past Yondu, who faintly whispered their name as they were killed in front of him. Obio was the newest name to come from Yondu. Younger than most of the Ravagers, his pleas for help from Yondu were shrill, but somehow the silence after his screams and his pounding against the glass were gone rang in Rocket's ears more than the noise had.

Taking a break from overseeing the numerous deaths, the new head of the Ravagers crew punched Yondu in the head a few times while declaring him weak and stupid. Yondu didn't fight back, and without any struggle, the Ravager grew board of a motionless punching bag, so he addressed his new crew instead, "It's time for the Ravagers to once again rise to glory with a new Cap'n…TASERFACE."

Rocket's burst of laughter was a sharp contrast to the cheering of the Ravagers, and Taserface heard it. Turning, eyes crazed, he took in the still laughing Rocket in a way that made him feel like meat. Of course, this just made Rocket laugh harder; the man could look at him like nothing all he wanted, but Rocket would still have a much better name than _Taserface. _

To his credit, Rocket did try to calm himself and he _did _say, "I'm sorry," through his laughter, but it took him a moment of more chuckling before he could ask, "Your name is...it's Taserface?"

"That's right," Taserface confirmed.

He had puffed out his chest when he answered Rocket question, and that only made Rocket _barely _stop himself from starting another round of laughter. His voice shaking with the effort, he asked a _very _important question, "Do you…shoot tasers out of your face?"

"It's metaphorical!"

The proudly shouted roar only made Rocket laugh harder than before, "For what?"

Blinking at the question, Taserface screwed of his face as he tried to think up something, but he quickly gave up and declared, "It's a name that strikes fear in anyone what hears it!"

"Really…? Okay, sure."

Enraged at the doubt dripping from every word, Taserface shouted, spit flying everywhere, that Rocket was going to be the next one to be killed. He stormed of, he reappeared with a formal blade that was quickly held at Yondu's neck. The blue-idiot blinked slowly at Taserface even as the man started the spiel that would lead to Yondu's death. "Udonta, I been waiting to do this for a long ti-"

Once again, a thoroughly enraged Taserface was glaring at Rocket and demanding his explanation because Rocket had started to laugh loudly once more. His attempts to muffle the noise by burying his snout into his chest was less than successful, so it appeared, but that was because he really _wasn't _trying. Not when it felt so good to mock the crazed man. "I just keep imagining you waking up one morning, looking in the mirror, and, in all seriousness, saying, 'You know what would be a really kickass name? Taserface!'" Now full on laughing, it took a moment for Rocket to recover enough to ask, "What was your second choice?! Scrotum hat?!" The death warrant he had signed and kissed was worth it for the look on Taserface's _face_ as Rocket and the rest of the Ravagers laughed at him and _mocked _him for his stupidity that Rocket had highlighted with very good impressions.

Truly, Rocket had the last laugh in his death. Even as Rocket's chair was tipped back by Taserface so that the ridiculously formal knife - Weren't Ravagers supposed to be all dirty? Where had they even gotten it? - could just touch the skin over his heart, he _still _was able to mock his killer by snarling. "Well, dying is certainly better than having to live an entire life as a moronic shitbag who thinks 'Taserface' is a cool name."

And then he closed his eyes and waited. He didn't flinch even as he felt the cool air that told him Taserface had reared the knife back and was coming down to stab him. Rocket had mocked his killer to the very end, and that was all he needed to die happy.

But death did not come for the waiting Rocket Raccoon. Nebula, who had silently watched the entire time, finally interrupted to declare that there would be no more killing. Taserface moved away from Rocket to glare at Nebula; this, plus his mocking "Thought you were the biggest sadist in the galaxy," were the two actions that made it clear to Rocket that he really _was _a moronic shitbag. It was pathetic.

"That was when Daddy was paying my bills," Nebula spat with loathing dripping from every word. Everyone watched as she moved across the room from the wall she had been leaning on, even _Rocket _watched. You had to be a special kind of idiot to not watch the lethal, insane person that was Nebula, and Rocket wasn't that idiot. He didn't even complain when Nebula nodded to him and referred to him as a fox, because that would be a suicide that he did not want to partake in, so he just sat silently, fuming, as she said with a head tilt towards Rocket, "The Priestess wants to kill the fox herself. And _he _has bounties on his head in at least twelve Kree provinces," she continued with another head tilt towards Yondu, "And he is wanted by Thanos," she finished with a final head tilit towards Ronan.

There was a plan going on, Rocket realized sharply. When he and Gamora had talked, she had always made it clear that Nebula hated Thanos to such an extent that even _Gamora _couldn't reach that level of hatred, and it had always been clear that Gamora hated Thanos. Gamora hadn't gone into the specifics, but it didn't take a genius to realize that Nebula had not always been robotic, and from there Rocket could easily make two plus two equal four. That anger was something Rocket could relate to, and he knew _everything _he had done surrounding _them _had been to spit them. They wanted him to be dumb, so he became a genius They wanted him to fly, so Rocket made sure that every flight ended with catastrophic crashes. They wanted him to die, so Rocket _fuckin _lived. If he knew there was something they wanted, even if it was something he hated, he would protect it with his life if it meant they would never get it.

Nebula had that anger, so Rocket knew there was no way she would ever give something to Thanos if she even suspected he wanted it. Whatever was going on was _planned, _and Rocket...Rocket wanted in.

* * *

There were no plans going on at Ego's planet. After Galaxy had asked her question about why Ego had left her and Peter's mother if he had loved her, the hall had fallen awkwardly and heavily silent. It was broken only by Mantis' quick offer to take Gamora and Drax to their rooms, which was quickly agreed to by Ego. While their friends were led away, Ego brought the twins out to his courtyard.

Of course, the courtyard was grand in size and beauty like everything else on Ego's planet. Still, Galaxy was stunned enough by the sight to pause in the doorway so that she could take it in. The vibrant planets somehow gave the place a feeling of tranquility that made Galaxy inhale slowly though her nose and then out of her mouth in an instantly relaxed state. Even though there was yet another dominating statue, the courtyard's statue was built with so much clear emotion that the two could not be compared. Meredith Quill, in a gray stone, was still as beautiful as ever with her soft, knowing smile. Even in stone, her mother's eyes still held that distinct sparkle to them.

The statue was a reminder, not that she needed it, of why Galaxy was upset. How could someone be in love yet leave the person they were in love with? How could someone leave the wonderful, wonderful person Galaxy's mother was? Even with just a statue, Galaxy didn't want to stop looking at her. She only looked away when she started to speak to Ego, "She told everyone our father was from the stars. They all thought she was crazy..._I _thought she was crazy, so I told my uncle. When they found out it was brain cancer..." her breath hitched and cut herself off as she started at Ego and wordlessly pleaded with him to give the _right _answer to all the unspoken yet perfectly clear questions she had.

No answer came despite the heavy guilt that was weighing down Ego's eyes and his face, so Galaxy continued haltingly, "We already didn't have a dad, so when mom started to die we had _no one," _she sniffled and swiped at her own eyes as her tears started to fall. "I would _love _to believe you, but...how could anyone leave my _mom to die alone?"_

Ego took Galaxy's hand and squeezed it tight as he started to answer the question, "I didn't _want _to leave your mother, Ariel, but if I don't return regularly to this planet and the light within, this form will wither and perish-"

Galaxy stepped backwards, away from Ego, as the right answer, the one she _needed _to hear him say, didn't come. Cutting himself off, Ego stared at her intently, his gaze almost burning her, as he waited for her to say in a shaking voice, "Why didn't you ever come back? Why send, Yondu, a man who runs a _disgraced _Ravager group, to get your _children?" _Before Ego had a chance to respond to her questions, Galaxy snapped her final question in a much harder voice as her primary emotion shifted from sadness to anger, "How am I supposed to believe you _care _about us when you don't even know my _name?"_

"Wha-"

"It's Galaxy," she declared before Ego could express the bewilderment that was shinning in his eyes, "Ariel Quill died when a drunk Yondu sold me to the Krees because he had no money and I was worth _something."_

There was a hardness in Ego's eyes that swam in her emotional state and reminded her of the look in Peter's eyes, still a boy of eight, when Yondu had told the two that she was leaving. His breath still heavy with the sharp smell of alcohol, Galaxy could remember Peter's simple question, _"But why?"_

_"Money...it's always because of money. They'll pay good for you and they'll toughen you up so you're like me."_

At some point relieving that memory, Galaxy had started to cry heavily, but she wasn't cognitively aware of that until Peter tried to wipe at her face a few times before giving up and handing her a rag to do it herself. Ego had started to cry as well, but Galaxy selfishly hoarded the rag her brother had given her,

Through his tears, Ego said in a thick, low voice, "I love your mother. I couldn't stand to set foot on an Earth where she wasn't living. You can't imagine what that's like."

Peter had been silent as Galaxy had poured out her emotions, but now he was the one to hurtle them at Ego as he shouted forcefully enough to make the other man flinch, "We know _exactly _what that's like! We had to watch her die!"

"Not just _die," _Galaxy corrected, her brother's anger signaling her own to grow as well, "because cancer isn't quick and we saw how slow it was." Taking a deep breath, when she spoke again, her voice was less angered and hard in favor of the simple sadness and hurt that she primarily felt, "On some days, she would look at us and ask who we were. Near the end, her body was breaking down and the smell made me want to gag, so I couldn't even hug her like I _desperately _wanted to."

With a desperately guilty, horrified, and crushed look, Ego looked directly at Peter and Galaxy and said thickly, "Over the millions and millions of years of my existence, I have made many mistakes. But you two _aren't _one of them. Please give me the chance to be the father she would want me to be." The little nods from both in response to his plea made Ego's face almost crack open with its wide smile.

Still trying to compose herself, Galaxy didn't realize Ego was talking until he took her hand and squeezed the center of her palm. "This planet and the light within it…they are apart of both of you."

More compose than she was, Peter was the one to ask their shared question of, "What do you mean?

Giving Galaxy's palm another squeeze before he let it go, Ego moved himself directly in front of Peter. "Give me your hands son," he requested. Hesitantly, Peter offered his hands to Ego, who manipulated them until they were in his desired position. With a nod, he moved so he was directly in front of Galaxy and asked softly, "Do you want to try?"

Nodding, Galaxy felt very childlike as her hands were manipulated by Ego into the same position her brother's were in. When he was done, Galaxy looked at them with confusion; he had rotated them as if she was about to make something appear out of the air between them. Slowly looking up from her own hands, she was even more confused to see Ego hold his hands in the same position as a mirror to his children. Just what did he have planned, and what did it have to do with being a father to them?

"Now, close your eyes and concentrate. Take your brain to the center of the planet."

Galaxy did as he instructed. Her eyes shut and she imagined white-glowing tendrils growing from her brain to dig into the center of the planet she was standing on, like the opposite of a seed. She could feel something there and a pressure as powerful and bright as the tendrils she had imagined was starting to grow in her stomach. At first, it had felt blissful, but then the energy grew and _changed _so that it was twisted. It was still the same energy, but someone or something had polluted it and that pollution was spreading to the energy Galaxy had gotten for herself. Her natural reaction was to try and push it down to the Earth, but at some point the energy had become stronger than herself. She couldn't control it, stop it, or do anything except wait for it to overtake her, and Galaxy _knew _that whatever happened after that would be _bad..._

"Yes! Yes!"

Her eyes wrenched open and Galaxy stared down at her arms to see the same tendrils of light she had imagined were growing like chains around her arms. She was horrifyingly fascinated with the view to the point that it was hard to look at Ego to see why he was so excited because _surely _he had known about the issue with the energy...right?

He hadn't even noticed what Galaxy was able to produced, and when Galaxy glanced at her arms once more she saw that all traces of it were gone. Looking back up, she looked over at Peter to see exactly why Ego's attention was on him. There, in the air between his hands, Peter had produced a ball of the energy, but the impressive display disappeared as soon as Peter opened his eyes and jerked in shock.

Beaming widely, Ego turned to Galaxy and asked intently, "Did you feel anything?"

"I...I don't know. Maybe?"

A new, foreign look entered Ego's eyes at her hesitant answer. Galaxy named it disappointment at first, but there was something that made the look linger with questions about it in her mind Quickly praising Peter, Ego turned his full attention onto Galaxy as he walked her through the entire process for the second time...third time...fourth time...but each had the same result where the energy would build and then that pollution would spread and she would do _everything _to break the connection. She succeeded each time, but by the last one the effort and the energy she had expended made her sway in place.

"Whoa!"

Blearily, Galaxy was more than grateful to accept Ego's steadying grip on her shoulders and help to sit on the stairs. That look of not-quite disappointment was still there, and it made her pant out, "I'm sorry," as if that would fix it.

The look got harder, but all Ego did was pat her on the shoulder and flatten a piece of her hair that had stuck up with a soft breeze through the courtyard. "It's okay," he comforted. "Just work on it when you feel up to it." Despite the kind words, it was painfully obvious to Galaxy that it _wasn't _okay, he wouldn't have that look of not-quite disappointment if it was. There wouldn't be a change in their dynamic if it was truly okay because now, even as he sat by her to make sure she wasn't going to pass out and hit her head on the stones, Galaxy felt as if he was almost apathetic to her. It was like he was going _through _the motions because he knew he needed to them, not the same understanding and care he had shown only a bit ago.

Eventually he left her to work with Peter, and in his absence Galaxy could feel a nagging doubt grow. Could that look of not-quite disappointment and the apathy that went along with it be because he _knew _she was refusing to conjure the energy? If he realized it, why hadn't he done something about it yet?

It would have made sense for Galaxy to make an excuse and leave, especially if her doubts were proven to be correct, but every time she would be _just _about to, Ego would come over to her and the strange apathy he was sending towards her would make her try once more to summon the energy just to try and make his apathy go away. Perhaps others would have left a long time ago, but Galaxy...Galaxy just _couldn't. _It made no sense, but she had started to desperately want Ego's approval, doubts be damned. Her doubts had been wrong before, after all, and there was always the possibility that she had just imagined the issue with the energy. Peter certainly didn't notice anything wrong with it, nor did Ego. As the odd one out, that had to mean _something..._right?

So she kept trying the summon the energy and shape it into the ball Peter had been able to do with ease, but she failed every time. As soon as she got close to the point Ego wanted her to get to, she would instinctively push back against the polluted energy and it would eventually vanish. It was a tiring process to say the least, but Galaxy kept repeating it to try any way she could think of to stop her instinctive push. Repeated exposure did nothing, and trying to separate the tainted part from the pure, blissful part she had felt at the beginning was impossible because the tainted part polluted _everything, _so there was no separating them.

Every single attempt was incredibly taxing, and while Galaxy tried to rest in between, she eventually reached the point where no amount for resting would help. She _had _to stop because any other attempt would make her pass out, though as it was, she felt like passing out was a current risk as well. Half-collapsing onto the stairs behind her, she looked over at Ego to see if he had noticed the effort she had done. He _hadn't, _and that alone made her heart clench and her eyes burn from their watering. Here she was, breathing hard and just _exhausted, _and it had been for nothing because Ego hadn't even been aware.

Through her unshed tears, Galaxy could see Peter and Ego playing catch with a vividly bright ball of _the _energy. They were laughing and living through a moment with such strong, shared love that it was palpable and coated Galaxy with its beauty. She _wanted _that, as selfish as that may be since _Peter _had always wanted a father more than she had, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be loved by a father, _by Ego, _as well.

There was a voice, impossible to ignore in its snide, constant hissing, that called her selfish for wanting Ego's love because it was Peter who deserved Ego's love, not her. He could accept the energy and shape it into whatever he wanted while all she got was minimal wisps if _that. _Would it really be so bad, the voice wondered, if she just stopped pushing at the energy because that _was _what she was doing; she could call it involuntary all she wanted, but she knew that was just a delusion. All she had to do was just stop fighting and surrender to the energy so that she could be _loved. _

As if she could hear the voice and wanted to confirm it was right about everything, Peter looked over at her with that lopsided, easy smile she hadn't seen on his face since before their mom was in the hospital, and beckoned over with a gesture and the question, "Wanna play?"

Ego had just caught the ball and he let it hover over one of his hands as he eyed her. Maybe it was just how the light hit his eyes, but Galaxy _thought _she saw that same glimmer of love she had seen in his eyes before, but she was quickly proven wrong as Ego turned to her brother and said, "She can't play with us because she can't make the energy."

Perhaps Ego meant his statement to be taken as a challenge, but that didn't translate to Galaxy; all she heard was a blunt dismissal that made her blink rapidly because it _hurt. _Even if it was somewhat true, there was no away around the pain of getting rejected by her maybe-father. Sure, the game of catch is simple, but it meant so much more to Galaxy and Peter than _just _the game and Ego...he _had _realized that, right? He had lived on Earth long enough to pick up that catch was _the _image of the bond between a father and their children. Maybe she was overthinking it, but she felt as if the rejection from playing catch was more than keeping her from a simple game; it was keeping her away from being his _daughter. _And maybe she wouldn't take the dismissal the same way if she hadn't already felt guilty for not producing the energy, or if she hadn't been so, so exhausted from her many attempts to make him proud, but that was the state she was currently in, and it made her feel Ego's rejection like a knife to her stomach.

It was Peter, however, who hurt Galaxy the most with his agreement to Ego. With no glance to make sure she was okay with not joining in or suggestion of doing something they three of them could do, Peter just nodded and held his hands to catch the ball of energy Ego threw back to him. Peter had always wanted a father so much, but Galaxy had always believed _nothing _to come between the bond and Peter, yet she had been proven directly wrong as Peter had focused entirely on the mere idea of a father rather than his very real sister.

Of course Galaxy knew how _silly _she was being, but that didn't erase the jumble of exhaustion, frustration, sadness, fear, and anger that was shifting in her and making her want to scream or do _something _that would calm the insanity in her head. Ronan would have known what to do, but he wasn't there. The closet thing to him that _was _there was..."I'm going to check on Gamora," she announced, her voice trembling like the tiniest leaf caught in a destructive, violent storm. Unsurprisingly, Peter and Ego didn't give any acknowledgement towards her statement.

So Galaxy walked away, and with every step her doubts grew along with the effort it took to leave. It's just a game of catch, that voice from before pointed out, and Ego is new to be being a parent. Besides, Peter had always wanted a dad more than she had, so really _she _was the one rejecting Ego and not the other way around. Always, the voice came back to repeating that it was _just _a game of catch. The doubt was so strong that she started to mouth it by the time she had reentered the palace, and she was whispering it when she exited it.

She was lost in her thoughts, but that didn't mean her whispering or presence in general was lost to others. She hadn't noticed Gamora, Drax, and Mantis slowly walking to their accommodations until Gamora placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Galaxy?"

Jerking back, Galaxy's eyes went wide as she was assaulted with her surroundings for the first time since she had been in the courtyard. She blinked rapidly and rubbed at her eyes before she even _thought _about saying something. By the time she was able to say anything, it had been at least a few minutes and Gamora was staring at her with an intense concern. "Sorry," Galaxy said hastily, "I was just...thinking," she finished with waving in the vague area of her head.

Gamora's lips were very pursed as she tilted her head to critically eye her friend, and under her watchful gaze Galaxy shifted and looked over at the others. Drax just looked bored as he often was, but Mantis was obviously worried with the way she was fidgeting with her clothes and the way her eyes darted around. What was Mantis so worried about, Galaxy wondered, and just _what _was she saying to Ego?

"Galaxy!"

Galaxy responded without thought, and the question of "what" came out before her attention had fully returned to Gamora.

"Are you alright?"

Galaxy's bottom lip trembled at the question and the blatant concern for her well-being expressed in it. _That _was all she had wanted from Ego and her brother, and hearing something she had desperately wanted done without a second thought just made the hurt from earlier increase exponentially. It was all she could to not to cry, let alone respond with "fine" as if that was the case.

Her answer was an obvious lie, but Gamora didn't press at she usually did. Maybe she had realized that Galaxy was about to break if she said anything else, or maybe the flick of her eyes towards Mantis had made Gamora remember once more that they weren't among just friends. But whatever her reason was, Gamora dropped the subject save for a brief, gentle squeeze of Galaxy's shoulder as she turned towards Mantis with a significantly strained expression to request, "Mantis, can you show us where we'll be staying? I'm getting eye-strain in this place."

With a nod and a naive ignorance of the frustrated grumble Gamora had finished on, Mantis started to lead them down a dirt path covered with a hardly used, barely worn red clay that was very familiar to Galaxy. One pause to pick up some with her hands later, and Galaxy was convinced that this dirt was the same, or at least _incredibly _similar, to the dirt she had grown up drawing shapes with a stick in it.

* * *

The sun was starting to wane into late-afternoon as they continued to walk, and Galaxy soon found herself watching their shadows grow longer and longer rather than keep an eye on their destination. Ego's planet was truly spectacular; it was a work of art that, if he was to be believed, _he _had created through the energy he had tried to get Peter and herself to connect with. Galaxy doubted she would ever forget the polluted energy and the feeling it had left behind in her mouth, but as she looked around the planet she could see nothing that would lead to the tainted energy she had felt, so maybe her exhaustion from being prisoner and the minimal rest following it made her sense something that wasn't there. All she had to do was rest and try again in the morning, and then Galaxy was _sure _that everything would be fine and Ego would no longer be so apathetic.

It was a plan that gave her a boost of energy that allowed her to walk quicker. Though she was lagging behind the others thanks to her thinking, her increased pace made her catch up with her friends quickly. Upon her arrival, Gamora glanced over at her to give her a questioning look at the sudden change in her friend. The look only intensified as Galaxy declared, "I think I'll feel better with some sleep."

In any other situation, Gamora would have questioned Galaxy intensely, but their current situation wasn't normal as long as Mantis, a possible threat, remained near them. That didn't mean, however, that Mantis couldn't be valuable, and Gamora's attention was on the much larger concern of getting every information possible out of Mantis than she was about questioning Galaxy.

With a final look sent towards Galaxy to make sure she knew she wasn't weaseling out of her attempts to lie, Gamora curled around Mantis like a snake so that she was firmly in place of the insect-like humanoid. The sudden position change made Mantis abruptly halt, but she only looked at Gamora with the same naive curiosity as always.

Not allowing her to ask anything, Gamora abruptly asked, "What were you about to say to Drax before I walked out?"

Mantis' eyes widened at the question, and Galaxy could see them darting around as if she was trying to see _something. _Her breathing had increased as well, and when she answered with a shaky, "nothing," it was obvious that the lie was said because Mantis was terrified of something. That became even more obvious when she walked around Gamora very quickly and turned to them, still breathing fast, to rapidly say, "Your quarters are this way."

* * *

**I am so sorry this is so late! Incredibly hectic week and my next one is only slightly less busy, so that chapter will probably be late as well. Thankfully, everything calms down in two weeks so I should be able to post on time starting then. **

**As for this chapter, I'm pretty proud of it. I tweaked quite a bit while editing, and I definitely think the changes have made it flow better and make more sense. Galaxy's part especially had some changes towards her views and reaction to Ego, and I'm much happier with her character in this chapter as a result. **

**One of the things I really hope came through in this chapter was the conflicting reactions towards abuse/abusers in general. Ego really checks off a lot of the boxes for abuse with his manipulation, outright lies, and a lot of others stuff that will come into play later on, and I really wanted to show the impact emotional abuse can have. People experiencing it are going to know something is wrong, but the abuser is very good at creating doubt through their actions, which is basically what Ego did throughout this chapter. He sent up enough red flags that he was called out, but he shifted the focus inwards and did enough of the "right" things that the red flags were doubted. **

**I also really wanted to show how that kind of abuse can impact the parent-child relationship. Because he's their dad, Ego elicits this desperate want for approval even though that doesn't make sense or, especially with Galaxy, it's harmful. Peter isn't stupid and not seeing the red flags with Ego, he's just caught in an abusive relationship and he's doubting the red flags the same way Galaxy is. If Galaxy had been able to make the energy ball like Peter, she would have been 100% on Ego's side along with him. **

**With the energy and the taint to it, that's something that's going to be explore throughout the rest of the book along with the stuff I've already talked about. I really want to show some of the huge differences between Galaxy and Peter since a lot of the first book focused on their similarities and bond as siblings. **

**And with that, I've hit all that I wanted to talk about, so now...review time:**

**importchic: Thank you!**

**jeffhardyluvsme: I'm glad you're liking it so far! **

**See y'all, hopefully, on Friday! **


	5. Chapter 5

There were many things Rocket disliked, but none of them came close to his absolute _loathing _of not knowing where everyone was at all times. Some may have called this an _obsession, _or, like that woman at a bar once said, he's _traumatized from his past, _but Rocket thought that that was all hogwash. As a genius, he had the right to worry about something others didn't without being judged, which was why that woman from the bar was missing a hand and he was banned from the establishment.

As a prisoner of the Ravagers currently in a cell deep in the ship, Rocket did not know where everyone was. Besides Yondu and Ronan, who were seated in the cell with him, Rocket did not know where the other Ravagers were or where Nebula was. He _also _didn't know where Groot was, and that was a larger concern for Rocket than a possible triple-spy villain or some stinking Ravagers. He had heard Taserface proclaim Groot was too cute to kill before getting dragged to his current cell, but that was less than comforting to Rocket. How many times had Quill woken everyone from shouting out during his nightmares that were from, though he only said this to Gamora and was unaware Rocket had been standing just by the doorway, his childhood with the Ravagers?

Gritting his teeth, he sent a look at the cause of those nightmares, _Yondu. _In their new cell, which was surprisingly roomy, Ronan and Yondu were seated on opposite ends of the same all from each other and both were pointedly looking at everything _but _the other. Rocket had never been the _best _at reading complex emotions, but he was perfect at sensing tension, something that these two...well, these two were _swimming _in tension. In any other situation, Rocket would want that kind of tension because it made men stupid, but two stupid men weren't helpful for his goal of getting _out _of their new cell. He knew that he had to do something, if only because he could see Quill's smug face as he made a witty comment that would somehow burst the tension in the cell and make the two men laugh. Oooh, how _nice _it would feel to rub it in Quill's face that he could be a good little leader too.

Knowing _exactly _how to break the tension, Rocket addressed Yondu with a half-growled, "No offense, but your employees are a bunch of jerks."

Quill's smug face was laughing at Rocket when there was no laughter from Yondu and Ronan. Hell, they didn't even crack a _grin. _If anything, Yondu just looked more defeated as he said in a cracking-voice, "I was a Kree battle slave for twenty years when Stakar freed me. He offered me a place in the Ravagers. Said all I needed to do was adhere to the code, but I was young and greedy and stupid," he paused and squinted at Rocket as if he was seeing him for the first time, "like you stealing those batteries."

"That was mostly Drax," Rocket quickly corrected. Drax would probably agree with him too, even though it wasn't true, because Drax wasn't the smartest.

"Me and Stakar and the other captains…we weren't so different from you and your friends. The only family I ever had, but _I _broke the code. They exile me. These ones here are the ones who followed, of course they're jerks. Which is what I deserve."

Yondu's voice pathetically dropping off when he was done speaking made Rocket wince and glance over at Ronan. Stupid guy wasn't offering any helpful pep talks as he was too busy staring down at the floor with a frown on his face and a distant look in his eyes. Rocket had seen that exact look many times on many men when they were talking about their sweethearts. All Rocket had to do was replace looking at the "cell floor" with beer and replace "Ravager ship they would die on" with a bar that they would die in, and the image was identical. Those men weren't the smartest either, and if Rocket was concerned enough about Drax to go over a plan with him twenty times, then he was definitely concerned enough about Ronan to consider making some flashcards to quiz him over the plan later. Though he didn't know it yet, Ronan was a very important piece in Rocket's plan.

But there was another much _more _important piece he had to worry about, so right now Rocket was going to cheer up a blue, finless alien.

"Slow down, drama queen," he said in a practiced comforting voice. "You might deserve this, but I don't. We gotta get out of here." Rocket's mental image of Quill was in awe of this pep talk, as he should be. It was far better than whatever thing _he _would say, and Rocket hadn't peppered it with phrases from his favorite songs. Did Quill seriously think that they didn't notice half of the pep talks were just song lyrics with the chorus taken out of them?

Blinking dazedly at him, Yondu grumbled out something that _might _have been "where's Quill?" but Rocket was only guessing. Judging by Yondu's reaction when he answered that Quill was with Ego, Rocket figured that his guess had been correct. Yondu's reaction, however, was _concerning. _Yondu's eyes widened and he straightened for the first time since they had been thrown into the cell. His hastily asked, "And Ariel?" had a sense of urgency to it.

"She went too," Ronan half-growled in answer. He too, Rocket saw, had straightened himself out of the daydreams of his girl, and while talking about her wasn't much better, it was still _something._ "If I had _known _I would not have wasted time at the crash. I would never let Galaxy remain in _that _danger."

Even though it was clear what the answer to his question was, Rocket still had to hear it to truly accept it. So while the response was obvious to all, Rocket still asked, "So is Ego an asshole with a stupid name?"

Yondu nodded while Ronan answered very firmly, "Ego is a lethal creature that has been hunting Galaxy and her brother like they are prey. He is far more dangerous than just being an _'asshole with a stupid name.'"_

The disdain, whether towards Rocket or to Ego, made Rocket swallow a bit harder than usual. For a former Kree Accuser to describe someone as lethal...well, it would be stupid to _not _be concerned. And Rocket was _very _concerned, just not for Quill, or for Quill's sister, or for Gamora, or for Drax. Sure, he liked them and enjoyed spending time with them, but his concern would always be about Groot. If the others were killed by Ego, Rocket would be able to move on just fine as long as he had Groot.

Ignoring the slimy lie, Rocket turned his attention back to Yondu to ask him a question he had heard Quill grumble and then answer whenever the mere mention of children came up, "Why didn't you deliver Quill to Ego like you promised?"

"He was skinny," Yondu answered with a shrug. "Could fit into places we couldn't. Good for thieving." None of this was new information since Rocket had heard it word-for-word from Quill, but he still nodded as if it was.

"Why did you bring Galaxy to my father?"

While Yondu had rattled off his answer to Rocket's question in an obviously echoed way, his answer to Ronan was halting and slow, "She was too young…too soft. The Kree would toughen her up," he paused, and his thoughtful frown shifted to a darker one, and his next words were hoarse and grimy. "Some of them liked her too much. Thought there were better things she could do than thieving."

Yondu didn't continue with his reasons, but Rocket found that he didn't want to hear the rest of them anyways. Besides, that would stop Ronan from fully exploding the way Rocket had expected him to since Gamora had always described him as extremely protective of Galaxy. A glance at Ronan told Rocket that he was very pissed, which was all that was needed for the plan, but it was controlled in such a way that Rocket would bet everything on Yondu's answer holding no new information for Ronan.

Silence fell in their cell. Things were still tense, but it had lessened from before. While not optimal, Rocket had dealt with worse atmospheres, Gamora and Drax were prime examples of hell in terms of a team atmosphere, so if those two could work together then Rocket was confident everything would be fine here. His plan was falling into place except for that one _critical _piece of _how _they would get out of the cell.

On a silver platter, that was delivered when Yondu said in a rasp whisper, "I got an idea on how to get outta here, but we're going to need your little friend."

* * *

Ronan felt as if he had awoken from a long dream when he listened to Yondu explain his plan. It was the accent, Ronan knew, that was the cause of this sudden energy. Shaped while he had been a slave for the Kree, Yondu's accent was very familiar to Ronan and that had consequences few knew about.

Krees had…an interesting response to each other, a response that he had only noticed when he was younger because Galaxy had pointed it out to him when they were just children. Still going by Ariel, she had only been on her new home for a few months, yet she had already become proficient at being unnoticed and in the shadows. She had used the casual dismissal of her existence as non-Kree servant to her advantage, getting the information she needed to survive the new world she lived in. Even then, though, Ronan was constantly aware of her existence; he would enter a room and just _know _that she was standing in the corner, the shadows keeping her out of sight. He would never give her away, knowing just how much danger her life would be in if his father found her. His reasons weren't completely noble, because selfishly, Ronan had recognized that even then, she had become someone who strengthened him and he wanted to keep that strength with him. Knowing she was there in the room made him feel confident and better. Though he didn't know it as a child, the seeds of his reliance for her were growing steadily.

It wasn't forbidden for the two of them to be around each other, but her status as a servant who wasn't a fellow Kree meant that it was very, very frowned upon. That didn't stop them from seeing each other or being alone with each other, of course, it just meant they had to meet in secrecy and even more intimately than they would have otherwise. In a cramped, unused room, they had met and spoken to each other for years. One night after Ronan and his father had fought in front of the undetected Ariel and he had bemoaned his aggressive response to his father that just made the situation worse, she had remarked with a frown, _"It's like being around another Kree makes you more violent than usual."_

Ronan had never realized this until she had pointed it out, but he had found it to be true repeatedly with just a casual recall of times when was around his fellow Kree. Ariel and Ronan had theorized about it for hours, coming up with various ideas that never fully explained this response. It was only because of his knowledge of this, however, that he was able to connect some of his buzz with Yondu's Kree-like accent. While the response was far weaker than if there had been another Kree, Ronan was still feeling some of the familiar affects. He felt energized and tight; the surprisingly spacious cell was starting to feel too cramped, and he knew he was only moments away from getting up and pacing. At least he could take some comfort in the knowledge that the response was too weak for his control to slip. When he had taken part in the protests against Xandar, closing his eyes merely brought forth images of violent deaths and never-ending cycles of blood.

The energy he was feeling had the same flavor as the one trigged by his fellow Kree, and Ronan had easily linked that to Yondu, but a large part of the energy was because of someone else. Closing his eyes brought forth one face he longed to see in person. His Galaxy smiled at him when he closed his eyes. Her hair was messy, the way it always was she woke up in the morning, and her face was lined on one side thanks to her pillow. He was sure some would dismiss such an appearance as unattractive, but to Ronan, Galaxy was stunning. More than anything, Ronan wanted that image to be what he would see when he opened his eyes, and he thought about childishly keeping them shut until he was with Galaxy once more, but he had no choice in the matter when Yondu's voice starting the plan filtered into his conscious.

Opening his eyes, he sat down in a spot closer to Yondu and the woodland creature that called himself Rocket. He made sure to keep the creature in between of himself and Yondu, knowing that the peace between them was uneasy at best. Galaxy was the most important person in his life, and he was not going to risk losing her because of past mistakes, especially with Ego's involvement.

He doubted he would ever forget the first time he had met that…_creature. _Late at night, he was awoken by one of his father's servants and told that he was wanted in the throne room immediately. When he had walked there, his thoughts were consumed with fear for himself and a selfish want that Ariel would be there with him, but he quickly became grateful that Ariel was tucked safely in bed. Ego had smiled at him when he walked in, and every sense in Ronan's body told him to run far away from him, a feeling only heightened when he saw how stiff his father was.

For all that could be said about his father, he was not cruel for the sake of being cruel. Cruelty, for him, was a means to an end and nothing more, so he did not enjoy cruelty. While Ronan would never know his father's thoughts that night, he had always hoped that his father had realized Ego's true nature that loved cruelty and did not want to give a child, Kree or otherwise, to him. It was far more likely that Ego had insulted him through his unannounced arrival and Ronan's father had wanted to make a point that he could not get what he wanted. Whatever the reasoning was, Ego had left empty-handed that night.

Of course, Ego had returned when his father had died. Then a fresh, young adult, Ronan had already fallen in love with Galaxy, and while the two were striving to keep their relationship as private as possible they were young and stupid and passionate. When Ego had arrived unannounced once more, Ronan denied him as quickly as possible. Unlike his silent reaction to his father, Ego had pursed his lips and asked in a mocking tone, _"Do you think she will still love you when she finds out that you kept her father from her?"_

Ego had been promptly removed by his guards, but the question was still embedded in his mind all these years later. As he watched Yondu and Rocket try to explain to the child-like tree creature that they needed Yondu's prototype fin, Ronan's mind taunted him with Ego's question. He was sure the answer was a very "no," and Ronan could imagine the expression of betrayal and anger and _hurt _that Galaxy would give him. Lying was not an option, though Ronan knew it would be an easy way to fix the problem. He would have to hope that she would understand why he had kept Ego a secret from her, and he would have to hope that she would forgive him.

He had tried to forget at Ego for the longest time, suppressing him to the back of his mind. He had nearly succeeded until the events on Xandar displayed Galaxy's and her brother's half-human nature. There was a reason why Ego had wanted Galaxy, and Ronan guessed that hers and her brother's ability to directly hold an infinity stone had something to do with it. Hating the secrecy he was forced to work under, Ronan had started to research Ego. His attempts to compile vague mentions quickly led to a trail of dead bodies, but Ronan only discovered how they connected to Galaxy through random luck. A drunk Ravager of a different faction than Yondu's had happened to sit down next to him at a random bar. He had talked at Ronan for hours, but it wasn't until he mentioned that Yondu and his faction had been ousted because they had dealt with children did Ronan pay attention. That small slip connected the pieces in an image that was too precise to be a mistake.

All he could hope was that Galaxy had not received the same fate as her many, many siblings. He doubted her brother would ever let something like that happen to her, but Ronan feared that his strong desire for a father, a desire he had heard from Galaxy's stories of her childhood, would make him blind to Ego's true nature until it was too late. Though it was very likely she would hate him once this was over, Ronan was determined to save Galaxy from Ego.

It seemed that his companions, however, did not share his determination. Ronan had hoped that they would have gotten the fin by now, but when he returned his attention to Rocket and Yondu, he realized that they were far from their goal. The child-like tree creature had returned with a _severed toe. _"Tell me you guys have a refrigerator somewhere with a bunch of severed human toes," when Yondu shook his head at this, Rocket sighed heavily, "Okay, then let's just agree to never discuss this."

Ronan felt as if he was trapped in some horrible nightmare when Yondu ripped off his Ravager patch, handed it to the tree creature, and explained that the drawer he was looking for had that symbol on it only to have the tree creature place the patch on his head. Repeating the same phase of 'I am Groot' over and over again, Rocket translated that the tree creature thought that the patch was a hat and that he hated hats.

This explanation of the tree creature's hatred for hats dragged on and on, nearly spinning into an entirely different conversation before Ronan finally snapped, "We have much more important things to concern ourselves with than hats!" It was a whispered shout and it made Ronan feel ridiculous, but it got the reaction he needed. The tree creature went away once more while they waited in their cell for the tree creature to return, hopefully, with the fin.

It came as a surprised when the fin was thrown down at Yondu's feet from a height that the tree creature could never reach. Ronan was at his feet in an instant, watching as the Ravager who had thrown the fin down stood at their cell, the tree creature sitting on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to do a mutiny," the Ravager said with his eyes firmly on the still-seated Yondu. "They killed my friends."

There was a long pause that Ronan desperately wanted to interrupt, but he knew that this was an important moment. Grudgingly, he kept silent so that Yondu could order, "Go get the third quadrant ready for release."

With a trembling smile and a proud salute, the Ravager made to leave when Rocket stopped him with a quick, "One more thing." Despite his frustration and desperate want to leave, Ronan couldn't help the small smile at Rocket's request for some of Quill's music to be played. The music was something Galaxy and her brother shared, and while Rocket and Yondu would think about her brother when they were playing it, Ronan's thoughts would be consumed by Galaxy.

Ronan had not heard the song before, but when it started to play, he could imagine Galaxy's joyful reaction to it. She would want to dance to it, and he knew one look would make him join in, holding her and dancing. He wanted to bask in that idea, but there was no time.

* * *

This was not the first mass killing Ronan had been apart of, but it was certainly the most unique one. Used to be the leader, Ronan was surprised when he found himself walking behind Yondu, but it was the obvious reaction to the lethal force that Yondu's new and much larger new fin provided. The music gave them away quickly, but the lack of surprise had no effect, exemplified with the quick deaths of their first group of Ravagers. Ronan had seen Yondu's whistle-guided arrow in action before, but that had been nothing compared to what he was doing now. One by one, the arrow went through the Ravagers and sent them to the floor, dead.

It was absolutely glorious; by the time the trio had entered the security dock that was filled with monitors, Ronan had only used his hammer _once, _and that was only to knock someone off of the walkaway. He had no idea if the man had survived his fall; the nameless, practically faceless in memory Ravager had no place in Ronan's care. His current focus was on Galaxy and getting to her.

All that stood in his way was a ship full of Ravagers, but they were quickly killed by Yondu's arrow as he sent it flying around the ship, killing the various groups coming to the security dock. Perhaps a better man would have felt bad for those Ravagers since they never had a chance, but Ronan was not that better man, and he was glad to see their deaths after he had seen those very same men dragging others to their deaths and mocking their pleas.

Looking away from the carnage displayed on the monitors, Ronan watched Yondu's face. There was a savage gleam in his eyes that Ronan was familiar with – he too had held that gleam when he had killed those that he _hated. _If he got the chance with Ego, he would hold that look and make sure that Ego knew how much he was despised.

The gleam in Yondu's eyes intensified and he gave a sharper whistle than the previous ones. Turning back to the monitors, Ronan quickly found the source of Yondu's increased anger. Taserface, large gun in hand, was marching towards them. Yondu's arrow soon appeared behind him, and Taserface turned to see it accelerating towards him. Thanks to another sharp whistle, the arrow was engulfed in flames and Taserface, surprisingly, had enough wits and speed to dodge the arrow. Ronan scowled as he watched the man's face morph into amusement as he cackled, but the amusement was soon erased by horror as the flamed arrow hit a tank that _exploded. _Even from their location, Ronan could feel the tremors running through the ship.

Tremors were the least of Ronan's concern, however, because the explosion of the tank trigged more explosions that were displayed on the monitors as they spread throughout the ship.

"You _maniac," _Rocket spat out. "The whole ship is gonna blow."

"Not the whole ship," Yondu corrected. He caught his arrow, somehow impeccably clean, and walked out of the security dock with Ronan and Rocket, the tree-creature on his shoulder, following quickly behind.

With ease, Yondu led his two companions to the flight deck of the ship where the Ravager that had helped them was waiting. With a crisp order of, "release the quadrant," the lone Ravager started to pull down various levers, triggering _something _that Ronan hoped would save them from the explosions Yondu had set off. With no way of helping, Ronan could do nothing but sit on the edge of one of the chairs while Rocket did the same. Yondu had also taken a seat, but he had fully relaxed in it as they waited.

Never was Ronan more grateful for his fears to be proven wrong when their craft _detached _from the burning Ravager ship just as the ship completely exploded. Now in their own usable craft, they thrusted forwards and were hurtling towards the nearest jump point.

"Where to, Cap'n?" The Ravager asked.

Rocket answered before Yondu or Ronan did. In his seat, he had pulled up a navigation panel, and with a determined growl, he announced their destination, "Ego," just as he set their ship on that course.

"NO, BOY!" Yondu's shout was too late, and they were already starting the jumps necessary to get to Ego. Their ship started to shake heavily as it popped in and out of existence, but the effort on the ship was nothing compared to the toll their bodies were taking as they started to distort and bubble like clay.

"It ain't healthy for a mammalanbody to hop over fifty jumps at a time," Yondu spat out with clear effort in every word.

"I know that," Rocket responded, but Ronan, even with the effects of their travel increasing, could tell that Rocket had _not _known that.

"We're about to do _seven hundred."_

The distortions to their bodies increased as they continued to jump through various points. Slowly, their faces and bodies start to stretch out before them, pulled by the increasing gravitational force they were enduring.

* * *

On Ego's planet, Galaxy sat on her bed in the sleeping quarters they had been provided. The wind lazily drifted through the room she was in thanks to the open wall covered with light, very useless curtains that were more content with floating on the lazy breeze than blocking it. With every push from the wind, the curtains blew up and allowed the sunlight, still strong in the late afternoon, to blast the room with full strength; when the curtains had _finally _finished their descent, the sunlight was only barely weakened.

The cycle was never-ending. By the fourth time, Galaxy was wanted to rip the curtains down, but she controlled herself with the distraction of her mother's music. With a huff, she had fallen back on the bed and had placed the headphones over her eyes and closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep, only because she wasn't actively trying to. She just wanted a break from the world she had found herself in, and the familiar music was the perfect way for her to close her eyes and just float.

She could hear her mom's voice describing the song as she and her brother, just six years old, sat in the back of her car. They were driving down country roads that were framed on either side by corn, and while their route would certainly take them longer than on highways, their mother had guaranteed this route would be much more fun.

_"Oh, oh! This is a good one,"_ Galaxy's mom had gasped out. She turned the radio up so her children could fully hear the song, but after only a few moments of listening, she was already talking about the song, _"My Sweet Lord by George Harrison,"_ she informed them, _"It was on All Things Must Past." _From the back seat, Galaxy could see her mom shake her head, _"That was a good album."_

As the song faded to a close, Galaxy took off the headphones and looked around the room. The curtains were still useless and floating through the air and the sun was still blasting through. On the balcony outside, she could see Gamora fussing with the communications device that was paired to a device Rocket had with him at their crashed ship. She had attempted to use it in the room to talk to Rocket and get an update on the ship, but with a grumbled "no service," she had gone outside.

Getting up from the bed, Galaxy walked out to join her. Gamora glanced up at her entrance, but she quickly returned her focus on trying to contact Rocket. When the attempt failed, she spat "damnit" and gave the device a glare.

"We might be too far away," Galaxy suggested.

Gamora scowled and sent a glare to Ego's palace in the distance. "Or something's blocking the signal," she said darkly.

"Why would Ego do that?" Galaxy asked; she hated the whine that she could hear in her voice to the point that she couldn't help the scowl on her face.

It was a testimony to how distracted Gamora was that she didn't notice in the whine and didn't even eye Galaxy. Instead, she turned away from her too look out at the landscape and shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted, "but you can't deny that _something _is going on."

Galaxy bit her lip. She thought there was something going on as well, and whatever it was, it was linked to the energy Ego had encouraged herself and Peter to tap into. That tainted part, if she hadn't imagined it, was there for a reason. Surely, it would be right for her to tell Gamora? If she had imagined it then there wouldn't be any harm, and if she _hadn't _imagined it...

Opening her mouth, Galaxy was just about to explain everything to Gamora, but the sound of Sam Cooke's _Bring it on Home to Me _and footsteps made Galaxy's words die in her throat and her mouth snap shut as the two women were joined by a very happy Peter. Depositing the source of the music, a speaker he had connected the Walkman to, on the floor near him, Galaxy's brother gave her a wane smile, sent another smile to Gamora, and was then so captivated by the landscape that he didn't notice that his smiles weren't returned.

The silence that followed Peter's arrival was awkward, even with the song providing background noise. After a few moments, Gamora started to fiddle with the communication device and Galaxy, switching her weight from either side, turned around and walked back inside. It didn't take a genius to tell that Gamora wanted to have a conversation with her brother in private, and Galaxy was more than willing to give them that privacy for as long as they needed. That was why she grabbed her own Walkman as soon as she entered the room and left, shutting the door behind her, to sit on the stairs.

Placing the headphones firmly over her ears, Galaxy skipped through the tracks once, twice, and then a third time with mounting frustration. Why hadn't she stayed in bed and floated instead of allowing all the problems to drag her back down to Earth? Concerns about the ship, Ronan, and _everything _with Ego were swirling around in her head and she was just so _tired. _Couldn't she have some peace for a few moments?

She went through the Walkman again and found nothing, so she slammed it down on the floor beside her and spat at it, "'Songs for every mood' _my ass. _Guess everyone forgot about the song for when you're stuck on a planet with your dad who's trying to get you and your brother to use some _messed up _energy that's _disgusting, _but no one else seems to notice what you're feeling so you're probably going insane and going to mess up everything and take away your brother's lifelong dream."

The Walkman remained on the ground and didn't offer up any song that fit her rant, earning it a glare from Galaxy. Even as frustrated she was at the object, she still carefully picked it up, rotating it in her hands to make sure she hadn't broken it, and clipped it to her pant. It was so much more than just a music player because it was the _only _thing, besides Peter, she had of her mom and of her childhood on Earth. Ever since Ego had come into her life, Galaxy had thought more and more about her home planet. What had happened to her house and her family? And they accepted that Ariel and Peter were gone, or had they continually searched for the twins since the night they vanished?

Would they want to know how she was? Did _she _want to go see them again?

Galaxy wasn't ready to answer those questions, which was why her abrupt draw back into reality by the noise of Gamora storming out of the bedroom and down the stairs without a glance at her friend, was a blessing. Stiffly, Galaxy got to her own feet just as Gamora slammed the door as she left. Staring at it for a moment, as the house still trembled from the force of the slam, Galaxy turned to look at the bedroom where she could _just _make out Peter sitting on a bed.

Gamora was her friend, but Peter was her brother. Her concerns about anything would always be cast aside for him, and today was no exception. Even though she was exactly _thrilled _about what she had to do, she still walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her, and sat down next to her brother on the bed. He hadn't looked over to her, not even when she turned her head to take him in. She could see the frustration and sadness that were weighing him down, but that was easy to tell from anyone. The other, more important emotions, the ones Galaxy could always see with her brother, were blocked off. The change, while small, was enough to make Galaxy feel more separated from her brother than ever. If she couldn't even understand his emotions, then what connection did they have?

For the first time when it came to comforting to her brother, Galaxy was unsure of what to do or say. So she stayed silent until Peter spoke first, his voice sullen and rough, "She doesn't understand. I finally have my family and she doesn't get why I want to keep them." He shook his head and looked over at her with annoyance. "She thinks there's something wrong with our _dad_, Ariel. Can you believe that?"

"Peter-"

"I know! It's just so crazy. You'd think that she'd want me to be happy, but all she cares about is herself."

"Peter-"

"I thought that she and I…_we _had something, but I was wrong."

"Peter!"

Jerking at Galaxy's shout, Peter fell silent as he looked at his sister with a wounded confusion she had seen on his face every time he had gotten in trouble for something but he didn't know _why. _This was the first time she had received that look from him, and it made her gut clench and her nails dig into her palm. She _had _to say this though, even as hard as it was to choke out the words, "I _know _you're thrilled to meet our dad and I am too, but I think-I _know _Gamora's not wrong and I'm scared that Ego is a part of something just...just _wrong. _That energy he was trying to get us to use, Peter-"

"It was _fine. _If you had been able to use it, you would know."

Galaxy shook her head and placed a hand on her brother's arm. "Peter, I could have used it. I can reach down and feel it the same way you can, but I choose not to use it because there was something so disgusting wrapped up in it that everything else had been tainted."

She could see that Peter was mulling over her words and had actually _listened _to what she had said. She was certain he would say he believed her when he finally responded. That made it only hurt more, to the point that a burning sensation entered her eyes and her stomach throbbed as if all the air had been punched out of her, when Peter took her hand off his arm to squeeze it while saying, "Ariel, I think you're confused."

_"What?"_

Her choked out question went ignored as Peter continued, "If you had actually felt the energy, you would have felt how _wonderful _it is. It's special and it's what connects us - you, me, and Ego." His eyes shining with some sort of crazed spark, Peter held out his other hand and a ball of energy floated in his palm. "I can help you make this, Ariel, and then you'll see why there's no way Ego could lie to us."

Galaxy's eyes burned with tears she refused to shed. She wanted to be able to make that ball so much that it hurt, and right there, her brother's hand squeezing hers, it felt like such a simple choice with only one right answer. All she had to do was nod, close her eyes, and conjure up a ball of energy twin to her brother's. He would be so happy and Ego would be so proud and their friends would come to understand the truth in time. Ronan would be happy too, as long as she was.

Would she be happy as Ariel Quill, daughter of Ego and sister to Peter?

Slowly, Galaxy lifted her other hand, but it was only to carefully remove her brother's hand from hers. Peter looked down at the empty hand as if it had been burnt, and when he looked back up to meet his sister's eyes, Galaxy could see that he knew exactly what she was going to say next. But she still had to say it aloud, "My name isn't Ariel, Peter. And I'm not confused about what I felt. There is something wrong with that energy and I'm not going to let it take over and taint me."

She could see Peter's eyes brimming with his own tears, and he swiped at them aggressively as her words hit him. "Are you saying _I'm _tainted?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Galaxy swallowed hard before she answered, "You've closed yourself off from everyone who loves you and you're fighting them. The Peter I know doesn't do that, and he doesn't call me the wrong name either. Everything you've been doing in the past two days isn't _you, _and the only thing that's changed is being around Ego."

With a shout of "he's our dad!" Peter got to his feet and started to pace angrily in front of sister. Going back and forth, back and forth, he didn't pause as he continued to speak, "You _know _how much this means to us!"

"How much this means to _you, _Peter, not me. _Never me," _Galaxy responded, her voice trembling as she too stood up. "I never wanted a dad as much as you did. All I wanted was a healthy mom. All I've wanted is a _family, _Peter."

Peter stopped pacing, but he didn't turn to her. Motionless, he said hollowly, "I thought we _were _family."

Galaxy could see his figure through her vision blurred by unshed tears. She couldn't see his face, but perhaps that was for the best because the pain from her response would kill her. As it was, she could hardly say, her voice coming out in a whisper, "I thought so too, but if you keep going down this path and you keep changing then we can't be family."

She could see his shoulders slumping forwards and it killed her to see the pain she had caused. She wanted to run to him, hug him, and apologize over and over again to fix all the hurt, but she couldn't do that to herself or _him. _She loved him, and right now that meant she owed it to him to stand firm in her decision.

She couldn't be around him because it would only take a few minutes until she was trying to fix everything between them. It killed her to walk away from Peter, the bedroom, and the building Mantis had placed them in. With every step further away, the urge to go back shouted at her, but she pushed through it until she came upon Gamora sitting in a field. Practically collapsing next to her, it only took one look for Gamora to wrap an arm around Galaxy as she finally broke down and sobbed.

* * *

**I am so sorry for this being late! Insanely hectic week but it's over and I'm nearly free! I actually have time to write and edit chapters now, so the next chapter will be post on time on the 24th! If it tells you anything about how much I edit these chapters, I added 2,000 words from when I uploaded it in full to what I'm posting today, so it does take some time for me to get these ready to post. **

**As for the chapter itself, I'm really happy with it. I liked changing to Ronan's POV since it's pretty different. He's really not an emotional person and I generally write pretty emotional characters. I tried to stay with that while also giving him an emotional drive, which is Galaxy and loving her. Of course, that isn't always the best set-up for an relationship, since Ronan is so dependent on Galaxy that he'll go to a lot of lengths to keep her with him, like keeping Ego away from her. **

**With Galaxy, I really wanted to make her change her mind about the energy when Peter was offering to help her. I think it would change her character quite a bit since her doubt about her own feelings would be so strong that she decided to ignore what she was telling herself. But I just couldn't see her doing that because it would mean changing herself for Ego, which relates to a lot of the inner conflict she has about this entire situation. Should she change herself so that she can stay alongside her brother, or should she forge her own path? She definitely answered that question in this chapter, so now she has to deal with the consequences. **

**Not much else to say, so now...review time:**

**importchic: Thank you so much! I've really had fun playing with energy since we're not really given much information about it in the movie. I kinda equated it to being like a drug with this blissful feeling that's covering up a lot of really bad stuff, so I drew a lot of my inspiration from being around drugs and not taking them, taking them and not liking them, being pressured to like them, and then becoming addicted to it.**

**See ya'll on Friday! **


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